Redemption of the Sky
by jschneids
Summary: Quaritch has been defeated, but Hell's Gate remains. Can the Na'vi , with the help of some unexpected new allies, take the RDA's fortress? And what does the future hold? JS & N, other pairings. Trudy lives. Some OC's coming.please review etc. Complete
1. Smoke and Ash

**Hey all. Just saw Avatar the other day, and figured I'd try my hand at a aftermath story. Please note I am basing this off of one distraction filled viewing of the movie, so I may get a few things wrong. Feel free to, and please do, correct me if this happens. Also, if you haven't seen the movie, none of this will make sense, although that probably goes without saying. Finally, I will be taking a bit of creative liberty with this and slightly tweaking the canon of the Avatar world. Nothing major, but just a few small things to set the stage for my story. Without further ado, here it is.**

Pandora was no stranger to violence; predators and prey fought and killed each other every day, but the sheer level of devastation the battle for the Tree of Souls had wrought was something completely alien to the lush, jungle world. Smoking crater pockmarked the ground beneath the Halleluiah Mountains, immense chunks of rock held aloft by a powerful magnetic field, yet at the same time tethered down by a mess of roots and vines. The RDA gunships had been reduced to flaming skeletons of twisted metal by both the flying ikran and catastrophic crashes, their remains littering the mountains. A massive pit was all that remained of the humans' impromptu bomber, and thick black smoke billowed forth from it, a grim beacon that marred Pandora's skies.

Sitting alone on one of the floating boulders was a wrecked fighter, one of the company's Scorpion gunships, unlike the others. Blue and white war paint could just barely be seen through the flickering flames that consumed it, as well as a set of small, booted footprints leading away from it. The boulder was one of a long chain that stretched to the forest floor, and the pilot could be found sitting alone, legs drawn up to her chest, on the next level down. Her clothes were tattered, stained with soot, dirt, and sweat, and faded blue and white markings akin to those on her Scorpion were being washed from her face by the blood from a small gash on her forehead. All of this was distorted ever so slightly by the transparent mask secured to her face; the only thing keeping her alive in Pandora's toxic, at least to humans, air.

The sudden sound of beating wings made her jump to her feet and tense up as she reached for her pistol with one hand and a military bowie knife with the other. _Shit_, she thought, _one of those Goddamn banshees, or ikran, or whatever the hell you call 'em is coming to finish me off_. The exhausted pilot summoned the last of her remaining strength and dove behind a outcropping the boulder formed, the tangled roots and rock providing her cover.

The shadow of the flying predator came soon after the sound of its leathery wings, accompanied by the shrill shriek its kind gave. The ikran landed on its clawed feet, and the pilot was surprised to see a Na'vi, one of the near ten foot tall native of Pandora, step off. The blue skinned humanoid appeared, at least by its clothes, or lack thereof, to be male, and its black hair was held in a long braid behind his back. Its intense eyes stared directly at her, through the mess of vines and roots she hid behind.

"Are you the 'pilot' called Trudy?"

The Na'vi spoke English, the product of the RDA's school Dr. A. had opened up, albeit with a heavy accent. Her throat dry, the pilot called Trudy responded in a raspy voice.

"And what if I am? Who's asking?"

The Na'vi crouched down and petted the muzzle of its ikran, which responded with another shriek, before returning its gaze to her.

"Jakesulley seeks his Sky People companions. He said you might answer like this."

A face she could only describe as a smile seemed to creep across the Na'vi's face, if only for a moment, and Trudy, her gun trained on the tall blue man, slowly crept out from behind her hiding place.

"Alright, fine. Take me to Jake. My comm link broke in the crash anyways. I saw the carrier crash. Did we win?"

The Na'vi's face lit up at this.

"We did. The metal demons are destroyed, and the Tree of Souls remains. Now come, Jakesulley will explain all."

With that, the Na'vi leapt back onto his ikran, and extended a hand, beckoning for Trudy to follow. Still eyeing her supposed rescuer nervously, Trudy holstered her pistol and sheathed the knife, and began slowly approaching her escape from the boulder, though mentally protesting the action.

_Why couldn't Jake have sent a plane?_

**End chapter. Short, I know, but there'll hopefully be more to come. Reviews, comments, and type of feedback at all would be appreciated. In fact there are a few quick questions I have for anyone better versed in the Avatar world than I who is willing to listen. Happy Holidays to all.**


	2. The Meeting

**Disclaimer: kind of forgot about this last chapter. Well I am quite obviously not James Cameron or a movie studio, so I therefore do not own this movie. Shocking, I know. Sadly, I must merely borrow these characters and places for my own use. But enough of my whining. Here's chapter 2 of Redemption of the Sky. Thanks to all for the positive reception of chapter one. I was pleasantly surprised that a movie so recent had a fanbase so strong. You guys are awesome.**

In a small clearing tucked away within the depths of the Pandoran jungle, the scars of battle all around it, sat a battered, cracked, and twisted metal shell that mere hours before had been a functioning lab, a link station for Avatar drivers. Mere yards away lied a still warm corpse, the insect like scavengers of the planet already poking tentatively at it. Two one yard long arrows, their poison dipped points sunk deep into the dead man's chest and their brightly colored feathers on the shafts shimmering in the light, were a stark contrast to gray pallor of the man's flesh, his blood all but gone, and the twisted and blackened metal surrounding them all. The man was not the only body. He rested within an even larger corpse; the ruins of an AMP suit belonging to one Miles Quaritch. The colonel's eyes, cold and hate filled in life, were even colder, the spark of life, however malicious his had been, now gone. His life giving mask was gone, taken, as a corpse has no need of fresh air.

Against the wall the lab station sat a Na'vi woman, covered in cuts and freshly formed bruises from the battle, but not caring at all as she stared down with a mixture of wonder and love at the small, at least to her, form she held in her arms.

"So," she said softly, "this is your true body?"

Jake Sulley, Marine, cripple, traitor, warrior, and Toruk Makto, looked away in shame.

His voice mirrored his action, quiet, and laden with guilt.

"Yah. This is who I am Neytiri."

The Na'vi looked down at the Marine, her gaze stern.

"No. Who you are is within. And you are of the People, an Omaticaya, and my mate. The form you wear makes no difference."

The two gazed lovingly at each other. Jake's Avatar, devoid of life, lay in a crumpled heap behind them, both linking pods the lab contained having been damaged or destroyed outright. Neytiri held Jake close, as the soldier did his best to sit upright and meet her eyes. A sudden voice from the underbrush broke the moment.

"Jake! Hey Jake! Next time you send a banshee to get me send a barf bag with it will ya? I nearly lost breakfast in my mask."

The voice was quickly joined by another, noticeably male as compared to the first's female.

"Oh come on Trudy it couldn't have been that bad. And will you keep your voice down, there's still a lot of predators out here."

There was an audible sniff of contempt.

"Can it Norm. I just lost my Samson and got scared half to death on the ride down here. Now where are you blue boy?!" The feminine voice shouted these last words just as two humans, both wearing masks, carrying guns, and covered in sweat and dirt, emerged from the brush, only to be greeted by a knife wielding Na'vi. The human woman was lifted into the air with one hand, as the other brought the knife to her throat.

"Who are you Sky People and why do you seek my mate?"

The words were hissed through a snarl, and the man fumbled with his rifle, unfamiliar with the weapon. Trudy Chacone just glared at her captor, quelling her fear, if only barely.

"Jake, call off your girlfriend. I'd prefer to not end up like the colonel over there. Sooner would be better than later Sulley."

The Na'vi's brows raised in surprise at her courage, though her steely glare soon returned. Finally, Jake, leaned against the lab wall, spoke up, having finished pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Neytiri, it's alright. They're friends. These are Trudy and Norm, the ones I told you about."

Still wary despite her mates words, Neytiri hesitantly lowered the woman identified as Trudy, who upon her release shot the Na'vi a nasty look through her mask before starting to massage the part of her neck Neytiri had grabbed.

"Hey thanks for the warm welcome. Oh and you owe me a new Samson by the way. Now you want to explain what the hell's going on?"

Jake rolled his eyes at his friends fiery response.

"Alright, well I figure we have to move on Hell's Gate soon, strike while the iron is hot you know? But the sheer amount of turrets they got on that place could be a problem. If all else fails, a full out charge will do the trick, but I'd like to avoid more deaths."

Norm Spellman, the lanky scientist, rubbed his shoulder idly, the phantom pain of his Avatar's injuries still haunting him, before speaking up.

"Maybe Max can help. I'm sure some of the others in the program share our sympathies. It's just a matter of getting them to take action."

Trudy chimed in.

"You guys would be surprised. There's a lot of people on base who thought all this was wrong, but when Quaritch was around, anyone who spoke out usually wound up as the victim of some terrible "accident". With him pushing up daisies, or whatever freaky kind of flower grows round here, I think I know a couple guys who'll step up and help. Let's just hope that video link in the lab still works."

Jake nodded in approval.

"Alright sounds like a plan. Norm, will you help her get that set up. I need o talk to Neytiri alone."

Norm eyed his friend warily, before shrugging in acceptance.

"Alright. Come on Trudy, let's see if we can get in touch with Max."

The sounds of the two's conversation gradually faded to background noise as they ventured into the wrecked lab, leaving Jake and Neytiri alone. The Na'vi gracefully crouched down next to her mate, scooping him up and holding him protectively and gently, as if his skin was paper, his bones glass. The two met eyes, and Neytiri's still held a measure of mistrust for the other humans.

"Neytiri, please, they are on our side. They both fought with the People against their own kind. Not all humans, not all of the Sky People are against us. I trust those two with my life."

Neytiri scowled, baring her teeth ever so slightly.

"They destroyed our people's home, they killed my father!"

"The colonel did that, him and his soldiers. And they're dead now. You can't hold an entire people responsible for what a few members did."

The Na'vi glanced at the remains of the colonel, hate threatening to boil over, only to be drowned out by sorrow at the memory of her father.

"So what happens when we drive this 'RDA' from our lands? What then? Will your allies remain? Will you remain?"

Her last question was barely a whisper, and a tear threatened to trickle down her face. Jake looked up into his mate's face with a tenderness reserved by all for those they love, and reached up to brush away her tear.

"Of course I'll stay. You are my mate. I love you, and I love this place, the People. And if my friends fought for Eywa, don't you think they should be allowed to stay, learn it's ways?"

Neytiri looked away, showing a glimpse of shame.

"I, I do not know. You are different. You are one of us Jakesulley, they are not."

Jake reached up to turn his love's face towards his.

"I wasn't when we first met. but you gave me time and I became one. Give them time too. Give them a chance and they can understand Eywa."

The Na'vi stared mournfully at the remains of Colonel Quaritch, the evils he and his commands had wreaked upon her people.

"Perhaps......"

**End Chapter. I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors, as I am writing this largely while on a mixture of a sugar and caffeine high. I was a bit rushed by events to finish this up. Holidays and family kind of tend to mess up one's schedule. Anyways, please keep up the feedback and let me know what you think. Happy Holidays to all.**


	3. The Legend

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas etc. Everything else is the creative property of James Cameron and a bunch of movie studios. Sigh. Oh well, anyway, here is chapter 3. The amount of feedback from you guys is awesome, please keep it up. Anyone with ideas for the story, I'm open to suggestions. Also, if anyone notices me getting some details from the movie wrong, please feel free to correct me. But enough of that stuff, here's the story. Enjoy**

The main RDA compound on Pandora, dubbed Hell's Gate by its inhabitants, was a combination of runways and garages for various vehicles, offices, labs, and barracks and employee housing. But for Dr. Max Patel, as he sat, nervous and fearful of the battle's unknown outcome, it was a prison. If Jake, Norm, and the others had failed, it would only be a matter of time until the RDA connected him to them. Yet if they succeeded, then the RDA would most likely be driven from the planet, but his future remained uncertain. Max sighed heavily, massaging his temples. _Why the hell did I get wrapped up in all this_, he thought idly, only to have the peace of the Link Center, which he alone occupied, disturbed by a sudden burst of static from the console on his desk. Roused from his reverie, the scientist sprang to his feet and rushed over to his desk, sinking into the swivel chair as he typed furiously, latching onto the oncoming signal. With a final burst of static, the video link was established, and Max found himself looking at the worn, mask clad faces of two people he was afraid of never seeing again.

"Norm? Trudy? You, you're alive! What's going on out there? The base lost contact with Quaritch as soon as he entered the vortex."

Trudy gave one of her trademark cocky smiles, and Norm seemed to smile nervously as well.

"We kicked their asses that's what happened! The colonel came down with a bad case of dead, the gunships got torn to pieces by banshees, and the ground forces ran home to mommy. If we're lucky, they'll get eaten."

It was all Max could do to keep his jaw from dropping.

"Wait, what?! That was over half the base's military power and you're telling me they're all gone? That's, wow.......what happens now?"

Trudy opened her mouth to speak, only to have Norm, clearly irritated at his companion, butt in.

"Jake and the Na'vi want to make a push to take the base, but the remaining defenses can still be pretty effective. That's where you come in. Trudy and I came up with a list of people who we think will help. You just need to get a few of them to come talk to us."

Max was just about to answer when he saw Norm forcibly pushed off screen and Trudy once again take center and begin talking.

"Look, Max. Selfridge and his corporate buddies are a bunch of pushovers. Without Quaritch around, a lot more people are gonna start standing up for what they believe, and these are people who I know think what's going on is wrong. A lot of them were just too scared of the colonel to do anything. Norm is pretty sure most of the Avatar team people will help, and he said you'll know who to trust. I'm sending you a list of names. Talk to them, but do the first one first alright?"

Max just nodded, the beginnings of a migraine coming on.

_Why did I get involved?_

* * *

The barracks and employee quarters shared a single large cafeteria style dining center, which had become affectionately known as Hell's Kitchen, and Max entered the large, noisy area in search of Trudy's first listed name. Spotting a large group of friends at one table; after being on base for so many years, he had come to know many of the RDA's employees, he quickly headed over and sat down with them, in desperate need of a distraction and preferably a stiff drink. There were about ten of them gathered; a cross section of scientists and soldiers, all good people, and all, thankfully, people who Max intended to speak with of the impending 'mutiny' as Trudy had dubbed it, though not now. The cafeteria was to public a place, to many prying eyes and eavesdropping ears. There was a round of greetings, which Max returned, but the table quickly fell silent as a certain man passed by, all conversation stopping and all eyes turning towards him.

He was a tall man, broad-shouldered and visibly well built, even through the baggy, standard military uniform of the base. His face was wholly unremarkable; a tough square jaw, nose, slightly misshapen from multiple breaks, but his eyes, a piercing, icy shade of blue, seemed to draw the gaze of all around him, their depths reflected a deep sorrow, and a bitter anger. He appeared to be a man in his early thirties, yet his presence radiated an aura of authority and respect that defied his age. He strode passed the table, uncaring of the looks he garnered, and headed purposefully towards the bar that had been built into the mess hall, plopping down onto one of the stools before ordering his drink.

One of the soldiers at the table, Sam, a wiry man with an almost comically bushy moustache, leaned in and spoke quietly, his British accent evident.

"You blokes all know who that is?"

Seeing his companions' looks of confusion and shrugs, he scowled.

"Blimey. You guys don't get out of the lab enough. That's Ethan Gregor. Man's a bloody legend. Year or so back, Quaritch sent out a team to go recover a Hell Truck that got bogged down, you remember that?"

Mike, a portly mechanic, was the first to speak up.

"Who could forget? It was a friggin' disaster."

Sam nodded, stroking his moustache idly.

"Damn right it was. 20 men, ripped to bits by banshees, viperwolves, and a bloody thanator. Ethan over there was the only survivor. Held out a whole night on the truck's wreck while he waited for the rescue to come. They found him surrounded by bodies of predators. Killed half a pack of viperwolves and a banshee by himself with a couple a low caliber guns, some mining charges, and combat knife."

There was a low whistle of admiration, and Max cast another quick glance at the lone figure at the bar, who was nursing some drink.

Mike spoke again.

"Well they left that little detail out of the write up didn't they?"

Sam nodded, a cold look in his eye.

"Man's hardly said a word since, although I did hear something about his sister coming in on the last trip to work on the Avatar project, so he's been loosening up a bit with her around. You know anything about that Maxie?"

The question hit him as he was still quietly observing the man, and MAx scramble to compose an answer.

"Why, uh, let me think. Gregor, Gregor...."

The name came to him in a flash, and Max snapped his fingers in victory.

"Gregor! Has to be Ella. She's one of the new Avatar drivers we got. Kinda hard to believe she's related to that guy."

Sam finally smiled.

"You better believe it. The guy knocked a man out for looking at her the wrong way while he was around. Poor bastard had a concussion for two weeks."

Max raised a brow at this. Sam was right, he did need to get out of the lab more. Conversation quickly turned to other topics less morbid, and the group gradually dissipated, until it was only Max sitting alone, his gaze once again turned to the lone figure at the bar. Ethan Gregor. Max swallowed. That was the first name of Trudy's list

**End Chapter. If you haven't noticed yet, I have a thing for the small chapters. I apologize dear readers, but it's just how I am. And some quick clarifications. Viperwolves are those dog things Jake fights at night when he's lost, and thanators are those giant jaguar type things the Neytiri rides near the end of the final battle (I think). Turns out there's cool wiki on Avatar that has all these details and stuff. Until next time, this is jschneids. Please keep up the feedback.**


	4. More Than Meets the Eye

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, own only my own story, characters, etc. Everything else belongs to James Cameron and movie studios. Okay well here's chapter 4 for you guys. I hope my incorporation of OC's doesn't offend anyone too badly. The movie doesn't give many of the Hell's Gate personnel to work with. Only one or two more of them will be important to the story, I promise. Also, my openness to suggestions still stands, so drop me a message if you have an idea for future chapters. My plan isn't set in stone, and is still flexible. But enough of this crap, you guys are here for a story, so without further ado, chapter 4.**

Max carefully made his way over to the bar, trying his best to remain at least somewhat inconspicuous, and keeping one eye trained on the infamous Ethan Gregor the entire time.

_Why the hell does Trudy want me to talk to that psycho, _he protested mentally, though still advancing ever closer on the man. _The man's no humanitarian that's for sure. No idea why Trudy thinks he'll help._

Suddenly, there was no more distance to cover, and Max found himself only a few mere feet from his target, the man, no older than 35 for sure, sitting at the bar with his back to him, sipping intently at a shot of what appeared to be whiskey. His logical mind in full protest, Max mustered his courage and sat down on the stool next to him. Ethan turned and gave him a curt nod acknowledging his presence, before wordlessly returning to his drink. Max was tongue-tied for a brief moment, unsure of how to start, when Ethan suddenly spoke.

"If you're looking for liquor, you're going to want to hurry and order. This is the last case of hard drinks they have, least until the next ship comes in. Although something tells me your not her for drinks."

His voice was raspy, and ever so slightly slurred from his drinking. The hardened soldier turned to look at his neighbor, cold blue eyes delivering a glare of irritation.

Max raced to compose himself, caught off guard by Ethan's speech.

"I urm, you're right. I'm not here for drinks. My name is Max Patel, I have someone who wants to talk to you Mr. Gregor."

"Do you now? Then why the hell couldn't they come up to me themselves eh?"

The irritation flashed to anger for the briefest moment, but it was enough to scare Max into action.

"It's a very...sensitive....matter, can't be discussed in public. Please, just come with me, I'll explain everything on the way."

Ethan's eyes narrowed, his gaze intense.

"Who sent you?"

Max looked around the room nervously, fearful of being overheard. He dropped his voice to a low whisper.

"Trudy Chacone"

The man's face lit up with surprise, the sluggishness of his drinking evaporating away.

"Well now things are getting interesting aren't they? Give me a second to finish up Dr. Patel. Wouldn't want to keep my favorite pilot waiting now would we?"

With one fluid motion, The soldier hopped to his feet, tilted back his glass as he guzzled the last few drops of the amber liquid, and pounded the shot glass to the table as Max looked on, dumbstruck.

"How did, how do you know who I am?"

Ethan glared at the shorter, smaller scientist.

"My little sister is the only family I got left. I make a point to know that she's safe, and that includes checking out the people she works for and with. You're one of the head honchos with Dr. Augustine on the program. And from that, plus the fact that Trudy was last seen flying off into the distance after springing the good doctor from her cell, I can conclude that you were sent to get my help in some half cocked scheme to strike against the RDA, am I correct?"

Max found himself speechless for the umpteenth time since meeting the man. There was clearly more to him than met the eye. Ethan Gregor was proving and unpredictable man, and Max knew he had to choose his words carefully.

"Uh well from a certain point of view you could say that, but I really..."

Ethan raised his hand to stop him, and Max promptly sealed his lips.

"Look here doc, I hate Quaritch, Selfridge, and every other one of those corporate desk jockeys with a passion you probably can't even begin to understand. Now I got one condition you have to meet before I even so much as think about lifting a finger to help you, and you have maybe," the soldier paused from his intense speech, checking his watch before continuing, "let's say five minutes to explain. They start now."

* * *

Max led the veteran soldier back to the link center as fast as humanly possible, outlining in hushed voices what had been relayed to him by Trudy and Norm. By the time they reached Max's desk, and he sealed the door behind them, Max was breathing hard, while Ethan seemed barely winded.

"Get this damned thing working. If you make me miss the last of the whiskey at the bar for nothing I am going to be pissed. And you'll be on the receiving end of it."

Max typed away, and within a few seconds, a screen showing the view of the camera from the ruined labs comm station blinked into life. At its center were Trudy, Jake, and Norm, as well as a large blue outline in the back that Max could only assume to be a Na'vi.

Ethan focused first on Trudy, and Max could have sworn he saw the man smile, if only for a moment.

"Trudy, what the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Viewers on both sides of the connection watched as the smart mouthed pilot actually blushed at this, before regaining her composure.

"Guess you could call it a bit of a revolution Ethan. What the RDA is doing here is wrong, you know that. You're the kind of guy we need on our side. Help us."

Max watched as Ethan's expression went cold, his hands tightening their hold on the chair's arms.

"Trudy, you flew me out of that hell, and I swore that I'd never forget it, but what you're asking is too much. Last time I tried fighting the RDA it cost the lives of nineteen innocent men. They sent me on that suicide mission for a reason Trudy. I won't gamble with other people's lives again."

Max raised a brow. Apparently there was MUCH more to this man than face value suggested. Back in the lab, Trudy sighed; she had thought this would be difficult.

"Ethan, it wasn't your fault, Selfridge knew the risks and sent you anyways, blame him, and blame Quaritch for not giving you a full escort. But for God's sake stop blaming yourself."

A simmering anger burned in the soldier's eyes.

"They were my command, my responsibility, and I failed them. I led them to their deaths Trudy, do you have any idea what it's like to have to watch your friends, your brothers die like that? Do you?!"

Ethan was breathing hard now, shouting at the monitor. In the lab, Trudy tried to answer but could not find the words. Jake did it for her.

"I do. I know what it's like , and I know that you can't dwell on the past like this, it'll eat you up, consume you, and throw you out a shell of what you were before."

Jake's words struck home, and Ethan fell silent, his anger quelled, and his voice hardly a raspy whisper.

"It's too late for that. Only thing I'm good for now is drinkin' and scaring the recruits. Go find someone else to help you save the world."

Jake scowled, but continued nevertheless.

"Ethan, why did you come to Pandora?"

The man snorted.

"Cause' I had nothing left for me back on Earth. Figured I'd come find adventure on this rock."

"You said you had nothing on Earth, no place for yourself. You can make a place for yourself here. Help fight to make a place for the people who give a damn about doing what's right."

This seemed to rouse the rage hidden behind Ethan's icy eyes once again.

"Doing what's right? Doing what's right!? I tried doing what was right two years ago, and you know what happened? Quaritch and Selfridge tried to get rid of me, put me on that damned recovery mission, which they and every other bastard in the Ops Center knew was hopeless, and it put the blood of over a dozen men under my command on my hands. That's what I got for trying to stand up for what was right! Now you give me one good reason I should even keep on listening to you."

Jake grimaced and swallowed hard before returning Ethan's cold glare.

"Revenge"

**End Chapter. Well there you have it. I promise you that after all this set up is done, then the real action can begin. But an angry half drunk soldier is at least kind of exciting, right? Oh well, Happy New Years to everyone, see you in 2010.**


	5. Mad Men

**Disclaimer: I won nothing but my own stuff blah blah blah. You guys all know the drill. Okay, well I had some time before the New Year's Eve party, so I figured I'd hammer out one more chapter for 09. Thanks to all who review, I value your feedback. Ladies and gents, chapter 5...**

"Revenge"

The word registered with the stalwart man viewing the screen, his mind now racing. Voice quiet, he answered in barely a whisper.

"Revenge...revenge sounds pretty damn good."

The whisper grew back into his usual commanding voice.

"Alright then. You crazy bastards might just have a deal. There are two men on this planet I want to personally rip to shreds, and if you kiddies give me access to em', I'll help you unlock the base for your big blue friends."

Neytiri, crouching down to look into the camera, growled at the bitter soldier, but Ethan continued, unabated.

"I got one condition, and then I'm all yours."

Max gave Ethan an inquisitive look, before returning his focus to the screen, where Jake was meeting the hard man's glare.

"I'm listening."

"You keep my sister out of this mess you hear? I'm not getting her hurt because of what I am choosing to do. You keep her safe, or I swear to God I coming after you next."

With that, the soldier rose to his feet, cracked his neck, and turned to leave.

"If we're going to do this, then I gotta get ready. Call me when you're ready to start."

Without a second glance, Ethan Gregor stormed out of the Link Center, leaving Max to deal with Trudy, Jake, and Norm. Back in the lab unit, Trudy sighed.

"Well that could have gone better. Nice save there Jake. Once that man locks onto a goal, he'll go through hell to reach it."

Jake stared intently at Trudy for a few moments before answering.

"You really have a thing for him don't you?"

The smart mouthed pilot blushed once again.

"What can I say, I like the bad boys. But that's not why I had Max find him. Any loyalty he had to the RDA got burned up in the hate."

Neytiri, who had been silent throughout the entire conversation, quietly standing guard over her mate, finally spoke up.

"That man has a shattered spirit."

Trudy turned to face the looming Na'vi with one eyebrow cocked.

"Yah, no shit Sherlock. And God help a the guys who broke it."

Neytiri gave Trudy a look of confusion, where as Jake was glaring coldly at her.

"Oh give it a rest Wheels, I didn't mean anything by it. She doesn't even understand it."

Norm, seeing tensions beginning to rise, opted to butt in.

"Ok let's just everybody calm down. Trudy, who are these guys he's after?"

The pilot smirked.

"Col. Miles Quaritch and Mr. Parker Selfridge."

* * *

Ethan returned to the Link Center barely two hours later, a tarp covered cart in tow, although he found it significantly more crowded than before. Roughly forty people were assembled in the Link Center, with Max standing on a chair near the front, trying, and failing, to bring order. Jake Trudy and Norm were looking on with obvious panic via the video link.

Ethan rolled his eyes before sealing the door behind him.

"Alright everyone listen up!"

The soldier's voice boomed throughout the chamber, and in a heartbeat all eyes were on him.

"Now that's more like it. All of you are here for a reason. Now I don't give two shits what that reason is, but it's made you know that the RDA needs to go. The question is, is your reason enough? Things are likely to get violent around here real soon, and if you don't want to deal with that then I suggest you leave right now."

Ethan was met with silence, although he noted with approval that no one had moved an inch towards the door. He left the cart by the door, and strode purposefully towards the front of the room, the crowding parting in his wake.

"Ok then. All of you are unafraid of doing what needs to be done. I'll try to keep this brief. command lost contact with the Col.'s forces hours ago, and we now know that the Na'vi kicked his ass and tore the gunship fleet to pieces. We also know, thanks to some friends on the other side," Ethan jerked his thumb towards the monitor, indicating the three in the lab, who were just as captivated by his speech as the crowd, "that Quaritch is now viperwolf chow, and the Na'vi are planning to move on this station."

Murmurings and low gasps emanated from the crowd, and Ethan waited for them to die down before dropping the bombshell.

"And we're gonna' help them."

That brought out full uproar from the crowd.

"Everybody shut up!"

The angry shouts died away in an instant.

"Good, I can hear myself think again. This is the best way to get rid of the RDA. Hell the natives want them gone more than we do, all we have to do is open the way for them. Now if anybody wants to leave now, do so."

The group seemed more restless than last time, but again everyone remained. Ethan was impressed. He turned to face the video communicator.

"You guys chose well."

Returning his attention to the crowd, Ethan resumed.

"Fine then. I have a job for everyone, and if this is going to work we need to get moving. Come up one at a time and tell me you name and what you can do. Max, get over here and write this down for me."

Ethan worked methodically through the crowd, noting who were the soldiers, the scientists, the Avatar drivers; everyone. There were the young, the old, men, women, people of every creed and belief, but unified by a common goal: to oust the RDA. The last person in line caught Ethan's attention. It was a woman, that much was clear, but she wore a heavy, hooded sweatshirt, trying her best to cover her face. Her voice was quiet.

"Susan Prescott. I'm and Avatar driver. About 700 hours logged."

Ethan eyed her suspiciously. In a flash, his arm had shot out and pushed back the hood, revealing a matching pair of icy blue eyes, and distinct, sharp facial features. The two were clearly related. Ethan glared angrily at Max before returning his attentions to the woman.

"God damn it Ella, why did you have to get involved?"

Max watched as "Ella" gave a glare as cold as the ones her brother delivered.

"Because this planet, this place deserves better than to be strip mined to death. The Na'vi deserve better than to be slaughtered for human greed. And before you go try to rip someone's head off, I got involved by my own accord. I followed some of the other drivers here once I figured something was up."

Ethan scowled once again.

"You always were too smart for your own good. But please, I'm begging you, don't get involved. please."

Ella's eyes burned with anger.

"What? You don't think your baby sister's tough enough to get her hands dirty? Well I'll show you just..."

"I can't lose you Ella. You're all I've got left."

Ethan' words stopped her in her tracks, and looking over, Max saw once again the defeated man at the bar, not the fiery soldier he'd come to know.

"Oh. So that... that's what this is about. Ethan, this is my own decision. My own choice. Let me help. You need every set of hands you can get, and you know that."

"But if this all goes to hell, and I lose you I'll..."

Ella raised a hand to stop him.

"It won't fail. And you know why? Because you're planning it. You are a commander who cares about his troops, and I know you'll have thought out the best way to do this thing. We all have faith in you. Now just have some faith in yourself."

Ethan was silent as the grave, looking at the ground, ashamed.

"Fine," he croaked. "Let's get this show on the road then."

**End Chapter. Well, there you have it. My final chapter for 09. Hope everyone has a great New Years, and as always, please keep up the feedback. Happy Holidays.**

**Note: I wrote this New Years Eve, meant to post it then. Don't know why it didn't work. Go figures.....**


	6. Strategist

**Happy 2010 to everyone. Sorry about the little mess up with last chapter. Technology doesn't like me much. But enough whining. Here's chapter 6, in which we get down to tactical side of my little RDA revolution. The reviews are awesome, please keep em' up. Now here, we, go.....**

Ethan shook his head mournfully.

_Why Ella? Why?_

Taking a deep breath, the soldier rose to his feet, took the list from Max, and headed over to where a large transparent whiteboard had been rolled into place. With a marker in hand, he began.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, pay attention. We have lots to do and little time to do it."

In a heartbeat, all eyes in the room, as well as four sets watching via video, were on him. Behind the white board, a map of the compound had been taped, with the board's clear plastic still allowing writing on top of the image.

"Thank you. Now we have with us twelve Avatar drivers, fourteen general soldiers, four pilots, five mechanics, and seven assorted scientists. I will divide you up into teams, each team will have their orders, and you will follow those orders to the letter understood?"

There was a collective murmur of yes's from the group.

"Good. Now we'll begin. As we all know, Hell's Gate is laid out in a pentagon shape, with the majority of the southern and eastern areas taken up by runways and garages. The barracks, Ops Center, and labs take up the northern area, and the factories and processing plants in the west. At each corner of the base, we have a large defenses tower, capable of taking out anything that runs, flies, or crawls within half a mile of it. Additionally, to keep out unwanted guests and burn away encroaching plants, toxic run off from the factories is pumped to the perimeter and sprayed . This creates a fifty yard wall of death around the perimeter. We have four objectives to get this place ready for the Na'vi. First, we need to blind these guys, kill comms and sensors. This will be done by a team going to the Ops Center. Once there, the perimeter defenses can be shut off. The acid is another story. That pipeline is controlled directly at the factories, so a team will need to head there and kill the flow. Finally, we need to prevent the mobilization of further air forces. The final team will hit the garages one by one once comms are down and ground all the gunships you find. Is everybody clear?"

The assembled group was silent, until a hand, shaking slightly, rose above the crowd.

"Yes, you , guy in the blue coat with the moustache, Sam right? You're a sniper, correct?"

Sam shuffled nervously a bit.

"Ah yes sir. If comms are out though, how will the different teams keep in contact. And won't we need weapons?"

Ethan gave a quick smirk before setting off back towards the cart he had initially wheeled in with him.

"Excellent questions Sam. Luckily, I made a pit stop before coming here, and I have the solutions to both those problems."

With a flourish, Ethan tore off the tarp, and the crowd gave a collective low gasp at what was beneath. Guns, grenades, combat armor; enough supplies for several squads of soldiers, as well as an unmarked crate. There were rifles, machine guns, and pistols, as well as several of the oversized weapons used by Avatars.

Ethan's smirk grew.

"Take a nice long look kids. Finest quality gear the armory had. The quartermaster will be waking up to a nasty headache, and a pair cuffs attaching him to his bed, but not for another couple of hours. Now this box over here," he gestured towards the mysterious unmarked container, "will solve our communication issue. They're prototypes of a new type of radio. Operate on a different wavelength, so they should be good after we take out the Ops Center. Now if that's it with the questions, when I call your name, come up here and you'll get your assignment."

* * *

Jake watched via the video screen, thoroughly impressed with the man. He turned to Trudy.

"Damn. This guy's good."

She smiled.

"The best."

"So, what's the story between you two."

Trudy blushed yet again.

"I flew the rescue mission. God when I got there, it was massacre, and he, he was mess. Bodies everywhere, dead animals. The whole place reeked like rotting meat. He was the sergeant of the squad they sent to recover the Hell Truck, and I'm pretty sure his little brother went with him. He was the only one who survived the night. Their transport got swarmed by banshees, or ikran, or whatever the hell you wanna call them. Thing crashed right near the wrecked truck, and they got atacked by more predators. We found him the next day covered in blood and raving like a lunatic. I flew him back to medical, but it was a week before he even said a word to anyone. We've been pretty good friends since."

Jake smiled.

"You like him, don't you?"

Trudy sighed .

"Why not? He's Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, but God, ever since that botched mission he's been about as talkative as a brick wall."

Jake nodded.

"I can understand that. A lot of guys I fought with back on Earth went home with some serious post traumatic stress disorder. Docs gave em' pills, but there's only so much they can do. He'll come around, just give him time."

Trudy sighed.

"I hope so, because..."

She was cut short by the sudden appearance of Ethan in the video screen, and she hurried to throw up her usual persona.

"Alright Sulley, everything is set. Max and the other eggheads are going to stay here in the Link Center with the Avatar drivers and a group of soldiers guarding them. They're going to help coordinate everything. Alpha team will be the Avatars, some soldiers, and a few pilots and mechanics. They're going to stop any vehicles from taking off. Delta team is the rest of them, and they're going to head to the factories, shut down the pipeline and the overflow valves. With nowhere to go, the runoff will start building up, and pretty soon stuff will start going boom. When those fireworks start, that's your cue to get in here, and fast."

Jake nodded.

"Alright, sounds good. But what about Selfridge and the Ops Center?"

Ethan grimaced.

"You leave that to me."

**End Chapter. Ta-da. The battle is coming up so stay tuned people. Feedback, as always, is much appreciated.**


	7. Rumble in the Jungle

**Disclaimer: Blah blah I own nothing blabbity blabbity blah. You guys know how this works. Ok, well due to some comments I received on the last chapter, which pointed out a few holes in my logic, I've come to realize that having someone beta read these chapters before I put them up might be a good thing. Anyone interested, just let me know. Also, with the impending end of my Christmas break, and the inevitable resumption of school (life can be so cruel sometimes), the time between updates will probably increase. Sorry, but that's just how it'll most likely work out. Finally, by popular demand, this chapter will have a special surprise. Enjoy.**

The video screen blacked out with a burst of static, leaving Jake, Trudy, Norm, and Neytiri completely alone in the ruined lab segment.

"Trudy, where the hell did you get this guy?"

Jake was still in disbelief of Ethan's behavior. Trudy just smiled and shook her head.

"He's a piece of work isn't he? Ethan's one of those guys who can really get shit done, so we should probably prep stuff on our side O Fearsome Toruk Makto."

The sarcasm dripped from her voice like sap from a tree, and it warranted yet another growl from Neytitri.

"Oh give it a rest you overgrown Smurf. It's called sarcasm, and if I'm staying, which considering the RDA will shoot me if I come within a hundred yards of any of their shuttles, I probably am, you'd better get used to it."

The Na'vi glared at her opponent, before turning to her mate in confusion.

"Jake, I do not understand. Why does she speak this way?"

Jake rubbed his temples and gave the smirking Trudy a dirty look before answering.

"I'll explain it to you later, but for now, just know she doesn't mean anything by it, alright?"

Neytiri nodded halfheartedly, before scowling once more at her nemesis, and Trudy returned the gesture with another distinct human gesture; one involving the raising of a certain finger.

Norm had had enough.

"Ok that's enough guys. We have probably three hours tops before Ethan blows the factories, and we have to be ready to go by then. Any ideas?"

The intensity in the voice of the usually quite scientist caught the rest of the lab's occupants by surprise. Neytiri was the first to respond.

"The People need their leader. They need their Toruk Makto."

Trudy glanced over at the destroyed link pods.

"Well we got some slight technical difficulties going on with that. We got a Plan B?"

Norm snapped his fingers.

"This is only half the lab from the mountain station. There's at least one pod still there! Jake, we just need to get you back there, and as long as you Avatar isn't to damaged, we're good to go."

Trudy nodded.

"Alright, sounds good. I guess with my Samson gone and the Na'vi patching up Norm's blue meat puppet after that AMP suit turned it into Swiss cheese, we'll stay with you and keep that lab from turning into this one. But how are we going to get there?"

Jake looked out at Neytiri's ikran, who had begun picking at the side of the colonel's head, and Trudy's eyes went wide.

"Oh no. Oh _Hell_ no."

A few minutes and several blood curdling screams from a certain pilot later, Jake awoke in his Avatar body, only to find Neytiri looking down lovingly at him.

"Come Jake," she said, "the People need their leader."

Jake smiled, and raising himself to his feet, he kissed her.

"Then let's not keep them waiting. But where did that toruk go?"

* * *

Not long after, Jake Sulley guided his toruk to safely land by the Tree of Souls, where the Na'vi tribes had assembled, and were treating the wounded. Before he had even landed all eyes were on him, the sound of beating wings drawing their attention. At his appearance cheers erupted, and when he landed he was greeted by Mo'at and the other tribe leaders. She smiled at him.

"It is good to see you return Jakesulley, and with my daughter as well," she said, gesturing towards Neytiri, who had ridden with him.

Jake bowed his head slightly.

"It is good to be back, but there is little time. I must speak to the people, with your permission."

Mo'at eyed him curiously.

"By all means Toruk Makto, I will translate for you."

Jake thanked her briefly before leaping atop a small boulder nestled at the tree's base.

"People of Eywa," he began, pausing to allow Mo'at time for translation, "we have faced the greatest warriors the Sky People possess, and were victorious!"

He let the following cheers die down before continuing.

"But the fight is not over. We will mourn our Brothers and Sisters when the time is right, but now, we must continue to fight. To drive the Sky People from our lands once and for all, we must destroy their fortress! We will take a home from them, just as they did to us! As I speak, our allies, friends of Eywa there are fighting bravely to prepare a way for us, and when the time comes, we must be ready to join them. Who is with me?"

There was a chorus of cheers and shouts from the assembled, and Jake turned to look at the leaders of the tribes, and was pleased to see their looks of approval. Neytiri was mysteriously absent however, and Jake then noticed her rushing up to him from a secluded area behind the Tree.

"Jake, come quickly!"

She grabbed his hand with a death grip before half dragging him over to the area from which she came, a place Jake had noted on his descent with the toruk that seemed to be reserved for the injured and those tending to them.

"Neytiri, what is it?"

"They have found him. The wounds were great, and they are doing their best to treat them , but they say there is a chance he will survive."

Jake dug his feet in and forced a stop, turning Neytiri to look her in the face.

"What's going on? Who did they find?"

Neytiri looked him directly in the eye.

"It is Tsu'tey."

**Surprise! Enough people had asked for him, and I figured in the spirit of bringing back good characters with untimely ends, I'd resurrect everyone's favorite angry warrior. Feedback is always appreciated. I like knowing what you guys think about the story so far. Please keep it up. Until next time, this is Jschneids, signing off.**


	8. Technical Difficulties

**Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. I only own my own story and characters. Ok, well at long last, here it is, the battle at Hell's Gate. Will the mutineers succeed? Will Jake and the Na'vi be ready? Will Tsu'tey survive? Why the heck am I asking you these questions anyway? Go on and read it.**

While the Na'vi prepared for battle, deep within the forest, the RDA mutiny was getting underway. The teams had been assembled and armed; the majority of the weapons went to the soldiers, while the pilots and mechanics took tools for sabotage. The last Avatar drivers were entering their pods, and Max was seated at his desk typing like mad. The other scientists; two geneticists, a biologist, two geologists, and a chemist, were doing all they could to assist, but for the most part Max faced the herculean task of linking over a dozen Avatars on his own. There was sweat pouring down his brow, and his mind was locked in concentration on the screen before him.

Ethan strolled over to the cluster of desks, and, noticing Max's current condition, opted to speak instead to the other assembled scientists.

"Alright. You guys are going to be our info center. Listen to what the other teams tell you, relay it to the people who need it. Pretty simple. We have a couple of the soldiers guarding the door, so you guys won't be disturbed. Now help out Max before he hurts himself ok?"

The researchers nodded, and Ethan returned to the now seriously lightened weapons cart. The Avatar weapons had been placed just outside the airlock, within easy access once the drivers were settled in. The human members of the other teams were all loaded up; combat armor, radios, and weapons. There was little left in the cart, but Ethan smiled at what he saw. The soldier grabbed two heavy caliber pistols and shoved them into his belt, snagging a few extra clips as well. He clipped a radio onto his shirt collar, opting to go without the armor and helmet. to get inside the Ops Center, he would have to remain as inconspicuous as possible, for as long as possible. Ethan tucked a few stun grenades away as well. Explosives weren't permitted inside the buildings. One explosion breaching the walls, and the whole compound would be flooded with the toxic Pandoran air. Finally, he was ready. Armed with only the few items he had taken from the cart, his wits, and his trusty combat knife, Ethan turned to face his 'troops'.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to make history. "

The room fell silent in a heartbeat.

"What the RDA is doing here is nothing short of genocide, and we are going to put a stop to it. There are those who will call us traitors, the condemners of our own kind, but know this; we aren't fighting against humanity, we are fighting for its virtues. Freedom, justice, equality; the RDA has forgotten what those mean, and decided they don't apply to others. We will go down in history as traitors to the corrupt, but heroes to the just. People, this is the point of no return, we are going to head down a path from which there is no turning back. No I have only just met most of you, but even from such brief encounters, I know that each and every one of you possesses the will, the drive, and the conscience to do this, to do what is right. You all know your jobs. When the Ops Center communication network goes down, that's your cue. Let's give em' Hell."

With that, Ethan Gregor turned away from a shocked crowd and strode out the doors of the Link Center, hell bent on reaching the Ops Center, and one of the men he hated most in the world.

* * *

Ethan approached the door to the Ops Center, a cold glare decorating his face, only to be stopped by the lone guard manning it.

"I'm sorry sir but no one is allowed in the....ugh."

Ethan silenced the young man with a hard hit to the temple with the butt of one of his pistols, and the guard slumped to the floor, unconscious. There was a small supply closet a few feet down the hall, and Ethan unceremoniously stuffed the poor guard into it, first relieving him of his ID card, cuffs, ammunition, and weapons; a small pistol and a submachine gun. He quickly glanced through the glass portion of the door to his target. The Ops Center was in chaos. Men and woman ran across it, from station to station. The Communications Center was a room off to his left, where most of the scrambling technicians were issuing forth from. The defense towers were monitored, and when necessity called for, manually controlled from, a separate console near the front of the room, where it overlooked much of the runway through a large glass wall.

_Now how to get rid of all these people_, he thought to himself, letting his eyes wander until they fell onto a small isolated console labeled Ventilation Controls. _That could work_.

Using the guard's ID tag, Ethan unlocked the door by flashing it up to the security scanner. The doors opened with a _swoosh_, and Ethan entered the chaos unnoted. Just another soldier doing his job, presumably. Ethan picked his way through the crowd until he reached the console, is holographic display showing a three dimensional blueprint of the entire compound. Hell's Gate had standard procedure for breaches. An alarm would sound in the breached area, at which point all personnel were to put on their masks and exit the sector. Once the room was clear, it would be sealed off, its ventilation system shut off and all doors sealed. Every RDA worker was taught it, and Ethan was going to use it to his advantage.

He messed with the keyboard until the monitor read Manual Controls, and a list was laid out before him. With a dark smile, Ethan selected the first one, Breach Alarm Overrides. A few moments later, the Ops Center alarm went off, sirens blaring and strobe lights flashing, both designed to capture the attention of all within the area. Panic erupted, as people stampeded towards the door, flooding out of it masks donned. Ethan muscled his way through the crowd until he reached a corner near the door, and then waited, his eyes trained on the crowd, waiting for his target. There. Parker Selfridge, mask askew, was trying to push his way through the crowd, and was caught by complete surprise when a strong arm yanked him aside, and he found himself staring down the barrel of one very large pistol.

Ethan Gregor stared at the man with a look of pure hatred.

"Say a word and I blow your brains out. You're coming with me."

Ethan held his captive close, gun to his back the entire time, waiting for the last of the techs to flee the Ops Center. With them gone, he pushed Selfridge back to a secluded office and quickly cuffed him to heavy chair, well out of reach of anything even remotely useful, before sealing the doors with a security console and turning of the breach alarms. With that done, he strode into the office he had imprisoned Selfridge in and pulled up a chair.

"Hello Parker, long time no see."

Selfridge' s face was white as a sheet.

"E-Ethan, what do you think you're doing?"

"The right thing. Now why don't you make this a whole lot easier on yourself and give me the codes to the defense towers and comms network, hmm?"

"You, you're working with Sulley and his Goddamn monkeys aren't you? For God's sake think about this! It's not too late to talk things out!"

Ethan scowled at the man before backhanding him across the face, hard, and pulling out his knife, stabbing its point into the arm of the chair, a hair's breadth away from Selfridge's wrist.

"Either you start talking or start carving you up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Choose. Now!"

The corporate desk jockey's eyes went wide with fear, and words began tumbling from his mouth.

"Jesus put that thing away, I'll talk, I'll talk! The network can't be shut down from here, too many fail safes."

Ethan's mouth twisted into a wry smile.

"Is that so? Oh, whatever shall I do. Gimme' the manual override codes for the defense towers. Now."

Parker's jaw dropped.

"Wait! You aren't seriously going to blow up the.."

Ethan cut him off.

"You better believe it you pencil pushing sack of pus. Your precious little radio tower is going to be a pile of molten slag by the time I'm done with it. Now, the codes," he said, handing him a pen and notepad, "if it's not too much trouble."

Selfridge shook his head.

"You're crazy you know that? You and all the rest of you tree-hugging monkey loving traitors!"

Selfridge angled his head up and tried to spit in Ethan's face, but it fell short.

Ethan glared at the man, and then at the failed spit bomb that rested on the tile floor.

"Pathetic," he said, whipping out his pistol once again and pressing the end up against Selfridge's temple, "now let's cut the crap and give me the codes before a put a hole in your head."

Selfridge swallowed hard, and grudgingly took the pen and wrote down a long string of numbers and letters. When he was done, Ethan tore off the sheet and inspected it, before turning to face the captive once more.

"You spineless, heartless excuse for a human being. I'd shoot you right here and now, but your miserable hide wouldn't be worth the bullet. But don't worry, me, you, and this nice sharp knife are going to have some quality time later on. Sweet dreams bastard."

With that, Ethan clubbed the man in the side of the head with his gun, as he had done with the guard, and Selfridge slumped over in the chair. Taking the codes, Ethan stalked over to the proper console and began typing. A few moments later, he was rewarded with five different holographic screen pooping up, the targeting system for each tower. It took him mere moment to train each one of them onto the form of the looming comms tower, and once the missiles were locked on, he sent the fire order, and looked out the window to watch the show. The tower was a lattice work of steel decorated with countless antennas, dishes, and blinking lights. Five streaking blurs entered his view from the corners of his vision, before all converging on the tower. On impact, there was a massive fireball accompanied by a deafening boom. Once the smoke cleared, Ethan could see the metal tower teetering in the wind, its concrete base all but destroyed. With the shrieking groan of metal snapping, popping, and contorting, the massive edifice tilted to its left before starting to fall at an unnaturally slow pace. With a final crash, the tower smashed into the tarmac, an immense dust cloud rising in its wake. Ethan smiled at the wreckage of the tower, and talked into his radio.

"Alright kiddies, comms tower is down, and the defense towers are next. Go make me proud out there."

Returning to the tower console, he considered using them to wreak more havoc, but opted against it.

_One misfire and I could take out our own people._

Shaking his head in disappointment, like a child denied a toy, he placed the towers in lock down, turning off automatic aiming systems, and then proceeded to smash the console he was using with its accompanying chair. The towers were now completely blinded, and had no method of aiming, and therefore firing.

The soldier was about to exit through the hatch to the maintenance tunnels, when he happened a look out the door to an indoor garage, and more specifically what it contained. Changing his course, he headed into the garage with a smirk, prepared to wreak havoc on the RDA.

_ After all,_ he thought_, I never did have my own AMP suit._

**Well what do you think? Please keep up that feedback. The battle for Hell's Gate has only just begun, and the next at least two chapters, possibly more, will be continuing it. Stay tuned kids! On a sadder note, this marks the end of my Christmas break, and I cannot guarantee any form of reliable schedule for future updates. I'll write them as I get the chance. Peace out everybody.**


	9. Suit Up

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to go through this every chapter? If I were James Cameron or a movie studio, believe me I'd be doing a lot more than fan fics. But, seeing as I am just a fan of the movie with an overactive imagination, let it be known that I own only my own characters and story. Sigh. Ok, moving on. The battle for Hell's Gate has begun (see last chapter), and both teams of the mutineers are heading out, while the Na'vi, led by Jake, are waiting for their cue to charge in (i.e. massive explosion from destruction of factories). Note that there will be lots of switching amongst characters this chapter, just as fair warning. Enough of my griping though, to Pandora....**

Ethan Gregor slinked into the garage, his prize in sight. One large and heavily armed AMP suit was currently sitting unattended. Ethan loosed a low whistle.

"This'll be fun."

After a few minutes of climbing up to the cockpit, fiddling with controls in a desperate attempt to open it, and then finally struggling to hook himself into the motion sensor controls, he settled in, raising an arm experimentally. The suit's robotic arm mimicked him perfectly, and the soldier smiled. With the flip of a switch, the cockpit sealed, a low hiss emanating as the air tight seals activated. The cockpit had its own air supply, one free from the toxins of the Pandoran atmosphere, but Ethan carried a backup mask with him, just in case. Now in complete control o the suit, he took a few tentative steps off the loading platform, still ill at ease with his robotic "body"

_I wonder if this is like what those Avatar guys feel like the first time_, he thought idly, scanning the room for some oversized weapons to use. _Ah, there they are_. A small platform had been set up not far from the suit loading stations, and Ethan, a bit more confident in his controls of the suit now, walked onto it. Immediately, a small holographic interface opened on the controls, and he could see a small drone spring to life outside the cockpit. The interface appeared to contain lists of weapons and modifications for the suit, and Ethan looked at it like a kid in a candy store.

"Hot damn," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Max collapsed back into his chair, heaving a breath of relief. He had finished syncing up all of the Avatar drivers, and with nobody manning the consoles in the Ops Center, hacking them had been a cinch. The barracks had been effectively transformed into a prison, with the soldiers occupying it the detainees. A few quick clicks, and the mutineers own "Ops Center" could access any security camera on the compound. Max rubbed his temples, and let one of the other computer experienced scientists, a young geneticist he knew only as Trish, take over. Thanking God for the miracle of wheeled office chairs, he gave a quick kick and rolled over to the console with the video link he had opened with the lab station in the mountains, and most of the screen was being occupied by one very bored looking Trudy.

Max chuckled. The pilot had repeatedly expressed in colorful terms her distaste at being left out of the fight.

"Trudy, that link to the security footage should have come through, there's a piece of Ethan's handiwork I think you'll like, plus I packed in the codes for remote access to the security camera network. Should help you guys stay a bit more up date."

Trudy perked up at this.

"Alright then Max, let's see if I can't get this working."

The pilot faced away from the screen for a moment, seeming to stare intently at another console.

"Ok I give up. I'm calling in the backup."

"Oh Norm," she shouted in a singsong voice, "Max sent us some video thing and it isn't working, get your ass over here!"

The irritated reply came from somewhere off screen.

"I'm a bit busy right now, you know, monitoring Jake, making sure this glitchy pod doesn't kill him, that sort of thing! What does the screen say?"

"There's a blinking red light with the words 'message incoming'. What the hell do I do?"

"You need to sync the transmission with the station and adjust the reception angle for quality to compensate for the interference from the vortex."

Trudy frowned.

"English, not geek please!"

"Hit the red button and turn the blue dial until the picture isn't fuzzy anymore. Now will you let me get back to work?"

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

Shouting match over, Trudy whirled back around to face the second console and followed instructions. After a few minutes of clicking and viewing, her jaw dropped as she came to the footage of the radio tower's demise.

"Holy shit, Norm," she called, lapsing back into shouting, "see if we got any popcorn back there! This is just too cool."

The reply came back, frustrated and sharp.

"It's a biological sample storage unit, not a pantry Trudy!"

"Well it sure as hell looked like one! Jeez, wait, Max, what's going on there, camera, uh, 126?"

Max adjusted his glasses, and then rolled over to the bank of screens displaying security cameras and brought up the feed from 126.

"Oh this is not good."

He could see the saboteur team, the Avatars and mechanics, and they had obviously been too late. No less than three AMP suits and a dozen or so regular infantry were laying down heavy fire onto their position, as they huddled behind a row of gunships.

Max swore.

"Trudy, you need to get a hold of Jake and tell him to hurry things up. As soon as they kill the pipes running that toxic waste, they need to move, and fast. "

Rolling over to the impromptu comms station they had set up on one of the tables, he grabbed the headset and snapped it on as fast as he could.

"Ethan, where are you? We got a problem."

* * *

Ella Gregor, or her Avatar rather, crouched down behind a smoking Samson gunship, an unfamiliar weapon clutched to her chest and her eyes shut tight. It had all been going so well, and now this. When the RDA's network went down, or more specifically when they saw the immense explosion and collapse of the radar tower, their team had moved out, making their way through each garage and warehouse in succession, disabling vehicles and quietly restraining the few soldiers they had encountered. Then, they had chosen the wrong target. Five AMP suits had been taken out, for maintenance or a mission she did not know, but once they had been spotted, everything had gone to hell. One of the mechanics had tried talking things out, and had received a bullet in his arm. Now, they were pinned.

Ella clamped her eyes tight; it had been all she could do to gather up the wounded mechanic and flee with the other to the relative safety the gunships afforded from gunfire, but the heat of the moment had caught up with her. _I can't do this, _she thought, heart and mind racing, _I'm not Ethan, I'm not a soldier._ A sudden shouting in her ear roused her from the stupor, though the voice was all but drowned out by the gunfire. Dazed, she turned her head to come face to face with one angry Brit.

"Fire you weapon!"

Ella, blinked a few times before returning his gaze. The man, Sam, she recalled, was sweating heavily and continued shouting.

"I said fire your damn weapon! Are you blue guys mice or men? We're under attack here!"

Ella looked around at her teammates. Sam was right though; most of the Avatar drivers, unused to combat as she was, had locked up just like her. Ella shook her head listlessly.

"I can't," she murmured, only to repeat it again, "I can't!"

The soldier swore.

"Gah! Bloody hell, a lot of use you lot turned out to be!"

The British sniper turned back and quickly popped out form cover, letting loose a few rounds. Through the now bullet ridden windshield of the vehicle, Ella could see three of the soldiers drop dead, the rounds having pierced their chests, or worse, the masks, leaving a bloody splatter on the inside. She shuddered, and prayed to God for it to end.

* * *

Ethan was just leaving the garage as he got the message. His face went white, before being refilled with a fury he hadn't known in ages.

"Not again," he muttered to himself through clenched teeth, "not this time!"

Pushing the suit to its limits, he sprinted across the tarmac, hopping over the contorted remains of the radio tower in a desperate bid to reach his target in time, Warehouse #13. As the building came into view, Ethan began to hear the gunfire and shouting, but also another voice in his ear. Through a burst of static, he heard Max's voice.

"Ethan, the other team just got back. Theirs went off without a hitch, and those factories should blow in ten, fifteen minutes tops. Their all automated, so there won't be any casualties, but it'll still be one big explosion, so I'd find cover in case any of the debris reaches you."

"Noted," Ethan grunted, before shutting out the Link Center and heading toward the warehouse door at full speed. Skidding to a stop at the entry, he surveyed the scene. Three AMP suits, although armed only with the standard over sized automatic gun, were pinning down the team taking cover behind parked, and at this point bullet ridden, gunships, while fire from pinned team was keeping infantry away from the remaining two suits, if only barely. It was a stalemate Ethan intended to end, and he thanked his lucky stars for the prototyped weapons station in the garage he had stolen his suit from. A heavy caliber Gatling gun turret had been mounted onto the right arm, with enough ammunition for five minutes of continuous fire, much longer if he shot in bursts, being. fed in via a belt. Across the back of the suit he had slung a modified version of the standard AMP suit automatic machine gun. It had a usable grenade launcher, but for the AMP suit, the grenades were the size of cannonballs.

Roaring in rage, though his cries were unheard by his enemies, he fired up the Gatling, it's barrels spinning and whirring for a split second before a stream of hot death erupted. The infantry were torn to pieces, and the one AMP suit turned to see what the disturbance was, only to take the rain of bullets directly to the front. The heavy caliber slugs dug into the suit, and within seconds it had fallen to the ground, smoking. Releasing the trigger on the Gatling, he let it the barrels spin idly as he pulled out the machine gun, and switched to the grenade launcher. The rest of the soldiers were turning to face him now, and the bullets pinged harmlessly off the metal of the suit, until a heavy slug from the closer AMP suit's gun left a spider web crack in his windshield.

"Eat shit and die," he muttered under his breath, and loosed the explosive shot.

The enormous grenade seemed to hang in the air for a few seconds before finding its mark; the closer AMP suit, and detonating, leaving the cockpit, and pilot, thoroughly destroyed. Cocking the launcher once more, he loosed the second round at the remaining suit, where it struck the side, and left a one armed robotic torso flailing. The infantry were fleeing, and Ethan replaced the gun to its place; slung across his 'back', and was about to waltz over to his team, victorious, when something from behind bowled him over, and it was all he could do to turn the suit onto its back. The extensive seat belts kept him from rolling around in the cockpit, and looking up he saw yet another AMP suit, this one only armed with one of the large bayonets mounted on the AMP suits, holding it as a long knife. One of the soldiers had made it to the remaining suits while he had his back turned to them, and for and experienced driver, strapping in could take mere seconds. The other suit pounced on him, pinning both his 'legs' and right arm, the one armed with the Gatling, and its driver was making a point of avoiding the gun's line of fire. The opposing suit brought the bayonet down to make the killing blow through the cockpit, and the tip was mere inches from the windshield when Ethan managed to halt the strike with his free arm, if only barely. His left arm was pushing up against his attacker's with all its might, and Ethan knew that with the windshield weakened from the crack, one good strike would pierce it, and probably him as well. Ethan glanced up at his would be killer's face, only to find the pilot to be a scrawny blond soldier, grinning maliciously. Ethan swore as gravity worked against him, and the impromptu dagger crept ever closer. He was pinned, and time was running out.

* * *

Ella had watched, spellbound, as the three AMP suits that had pinned them were systematically obliterated, and squinting to see the driver of the suit that had had saved them, the Avatar body's heightened senses letting her see just enough detail, she gasped to see her _brother_. He had just killed at least a dozen men and seemed completely unfazed, cocky even. She was just about to shout out to him when she saw it; in a flash, one of the surviving soldiers had hopped into and AMP suit, ripped the bayonet off an unloaded weapon, and pounced. Within a heartbeat, he was poised to drive the bayonet into the cockpit of the AMP that had saved them, right into her brother. She realized all if this within a few split seconds, with mounting horror. At that moment, something unfamiliar took over. Looking back, she never knew whether it was the protective instinct one has for family, or pure rage, but in a heartbeat, she made her decision. _I've lost enough family one Earth, I'm not losing Ethan!_

Tossing the gun aside, she dashed through the row of gunships, jumping on top of the last one, mere meters from the struggling AMP suits, before launching herself at her brother's attacker, loosing and animalistic snarl. She knocked the attacking suit, already unbalanced by its position on Ethan, to the ground, and before she realized what she was doing, she tore the bayonet from its weakened grip, and plunged it into the cockpit. The gravity of her actions striking her, she dared a look into the cockpit she had stabbed, only to recoil in horror at the cold gaze of the freshly dead pilots eyes, a look of surprise and terror etched into her face. Ella stepped back fast, her breath coming fast and shallow.

"I didn't, I, he's.."

She was cut off by her brother's voice coming through the speaker of the suit. He had risen to his feet, and looked down to his sister's face.

"I know. It's alright Ella. You saved my life. I know this hurts, believe me I do, but you can get through this. Come on now, calm down."

Ella couldn't stem the tide of the tears washing down her face, and tried to hug her brother tight, wrapping her arms around the suit, which gave nowhere near the amount of comfort she needed. Ethan sighed quietly, and returned the gesture, lightly, with the arms of the suit, determined once the battle was over to console her properly, not by proxy, he through the AMP suit, and she through her Avatar, as they were now.

The rest of the team slowly emerged from their now bullet ridden hiding place, giving the two a wide berth. The injured were helped, some half carried, and Sam slowly made his way over to the wide open door of the warehouse looking out at the factories.

"Mary Mother of God...."

He was silenced by the deafening boom that accompanied the immense fireball spewing from the top a smokestack, and the hollow tower was shattered, leaving only a jagged stump. Others followed suit. There was a long elevated pipeline that ran throughout the factory compound, and a piece of the molten debris from the smokestacks struck it, piercing it and igniting its contents. A jet of flames erupted from the breach, before spreading internally. Section after section of the line exploded, the fire traveling in both directions from the breach. The last smokestack toppled onto a factory building, crushing nearly half of it, and the fire had spread to it within moment. All throughout the factory compound, flames could be seen, and explosions emanated from every corner. Thick black smoke billowed from the wreckage, the beacon for the Na'vi. The mutineers could only watch as the factories slowly consumed themselves, eaten up by the fires that had become their funeral pyre, and pray the Na'vi would come before the RDA reorganized.

**End Chapter. Before I get a earful of angry messages about not giving Tsu'tey some part in this chapter as a few of you requested, let me remind you dear readers that a.) he is recuperating from bullet wounds and a couple thousand foot drop, as the movie quite CLEARLY shows that, and b.) this is the human side of the fight. The Na'vi are coming, so just have a little patience. Now with that done, I hope you all enjoyed this, because I sure enjoyed writing this. Please keep up the feedback, and new chapters will be posted ASAP. I have midterms rapidly approaching though, so no guarantees on when that'll be.**


	10. Gathering Storm

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own stuff. All the rest is JC's and movie studios. You all know the drill. I apologize for the delay in updating, but unfortunately homework doesn't do itself. Anyways, as we saw last chapter, the mutineers at Hell's Gate just set off the Na'vi's signal to enter the fray by blowing the factories sky high. However, the RDA is starting to respond, and what will happen since the sabotage team failed to prevent people from reaching their vehicles? Let's find out.....**

Hell's Gate had become much more akin to its namesake than anyone could have believed a few short hours ago, but now the sky overhead was black from the thick acrid smoke of the factory fires, and ash drifted down from the sky like a dank gray snow. Debris, twisted shards of metal, blackened concrete, and all manner of charred substances were scattered across the tarmac and runways of the compound, some embedded in walls and roofs like the aftermath of some drunken game of darts.

Within one of many warehouses and garages, the number thirteen on its wall now nearly obscured by ash and soot, we one of two groups of the mutineers. They had dug in, the two AMP suits in their possession, one brought by Ethan and one undestroyed suit from the garage, having moved the Samson gunships and various other machinery in the garage contained into a defensive wall, behind which were huddled a handful of masked soldiers and mechanics, as well as the large blue Avatars being driven from the Link Center.

Ethan Gregor, still piloting his commandeered AMP suit and its heavy experimental arsenal, was arguing angrily over the radio.

"I understand that Max, but short waver radios still work here, and not all the troops were in the barracks. Word is spreading we're here. We can't afford to move the injured, and attacks are coming. You tell Sulley to hurry his blue ass up! Yes I understand moving an army is a difficult thing. I know it better than you do! But he told me he would be ready, and they have to be friggin' blind if they don't see that smoke!"

Ethan sighed, and removing his hand from the motion controls, he massaged his temples.

"Fine Max. Fine! Just keep those cameras trained on the area around the warehouse and keep me posted. Now you said the other team got back fine? No casualties? Well that's some good news at least. What? No, no keep them there. It's like the Goddamn judgment day out here. Shit's falling from the sky and there's fires all over the place. No keep them there, keep them safe. Tell the Na'vi to get here ASAP. We'll hold until then."

Ethan shook his head, a smoldering fury at the situation burning beneath his stoic face. He ended the link with Max, and after strapping back into the controls walked the suit over to the barricade and slipped inside. Near the back were huddled just over a dozen Avatars, and Ethan shook his head at the sight. Next to none had any experience in combat, and even fewer were even relatively useful in it. His sister, Ella, was sitting off to the side; she had said barely anything since she had been forced to kill the driver of an enemy AMP suit.

_God_, Ethan thought, _she's going through all of this just because my sorry ass need saving. I gotta' talk to her after all this._

Shaking his head, Ethan continued his rounds. Four of the men and women on his team, three of the mechanics and one soldier, had all been injured to varying degrees. None were critical, but all would need further medical attention . The rest of his "troops" had posted themselves at various positions along the barricade, and Ethan glance upward towards before switching his radio onto another channel.

"How's it looking up there Sam?"

The response came quickly, though slightly fuzzed by static.

"All good Ethan. Just strapped myself in. I got a bird's eye view of both entrances here."

Ethan nodded, and squinted as he looked up into the shady scaffolding of the roof. Even knowing where to look, the British sniper was near impossible to spot. The RDA goons would have no chance of finding him.

"Good. You're damn near impossible to see from down here. You'll see them coming before we do. You see em' coming, you tell me and wait for orders to fire, understood.

"Yes sir. You line them up and I'll knock em' down."

"Good man. Keep me posted."

Continuing on, Ethan arrived at the other AMP suit they had acquired, this one piloted by a gruff mechanic by the name of Mike Hascall. The man turned to face Ethan as he walked by.

"Mike, how you holding up?"

The man shrugged.

"As good as I can I guess. I'm no soldier."

Ethan nodded.

"I know, but you're the only man here who really knows what he's doing with an AMP. That's why we need you."

Ethan glanced around before lowering his voice and continuing on.

"You see, me and you, with these big suits on, we're the only safe ones. The only thing that'll put a dent in these babies is a round from another AMP, and we'll have ample warning if another of those is coming. Our job is going to be to take as much as the fire as possible."

The man stared incredulously at him.

"Wait, what?"

Ethan continued.

"Look, those soldiers are going to shoot at what they think is the bigger threat, which quite clearly is these suits. Now would you rather a harmless bullet go towards you or a killer one at your friend, hmm?"

Mike faltered.

"Me, I guess."

"Damn straight. Now these suits aren't designed for subtlety. That's clear enough to a blind man. Make yourself known, shoot em' up. If we occupy their attention, then that means there's less of a chance the other's will get hurt. You clear?"

Mike's resolve seemed to return.

"Yah. Let's give em' hell."

Ethan smiled.

"Good. Raise some hell Mike."

The soldier continued his walk, until he finally realized he had done all he could. He glanced quickly at Ella. The other's were quick fixes, she would take some time.

* * *

In the link center, Max Patel was switching between typing away to reset the security feeds and talking with Jake via the radio. The scientist could barely hear his voice over the rushing of wind in the background.

"Jake what's going on?"

The response came, partially drowned out by the fast moving air.

"The ikran maktos, er, banshee riders are inbound. Twenty minutes tops maybe. Ground troops will be a bit further behind. The Tree of Souls wasn't exactly close to Hell's Gate you know."

Max sighed, only to have his attention drawn by a furious tapping on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the panicked face of one of the other researchers, and directed his attention to what she was pointing frantically at. His face paled at the sight of the security feed.

"Jake, you might want to hurry things up, because it looks like they'll be dead in five."

Max swallowed hard.

"And so will we."

**Cliffhanger! Sort of! Short, I know, but the slave drivers at school have me swamped with work, and the ever encroaching midterms aren't helping that either. I will post as I am able to. Please keep up the feedback. Jschneids, signing off.**


	11. Shock and Awe

**Disclaimer: Avatar and all its stuff is the property of James Cameron and movie studios ....zzzzzzzz.... oops, sorry about that. Those disclaimers just get so boring after a while. Right, to the story. Two teams of mutineers, one in the Link Center and one pinned down in a garage, need to hold out against the disorganized, but still powerful, remains of the RDA military. Jake and the Na'vi have been delayed. Will they survive the RDA onslaught? Let's find out....**

The radio in Ethan' headset buzzed to life, and Max's voice came through, shaky and obviously fearful.

"Ethan, this is bad."

The soldier shook his head; he had had his fill of bad news for the day.

"What Max? Jake get blown up? Link pods start breaking down? What?"

His irritation was palpable, but Max didn't miss a beat.

"I just checked the cameras. You have nearly 150 infantry and six AMP's coming your way. The shortwave radios are still working. They can organize, but only within a certain range. They're closing in fast, eastern entrance, though I think the suits are going to try and swing around through the western one. I'll try and keep you posted, but we got a contingent of em' coming our way too. Good luck Ethan."

The soldier was near speechless. Here, he had just twenty men and women capable of fighting, much fewer who were actually competent at it, and only two AMP's, including his own. His mind was racing.

"Good luck to you too Max."

With that, he quickly ended the connection, and walked over to the other AMP, which was piloted by a mechanic name Mike.

"Mike, we got a problem. Take a look around here for anything explosive and bring it to the eastern door."

The mechanic looked back at him, confused.

"Ethan, what do we need explosives..."

The soldier cut him off.

"No time to explain, just grab whatever you can find and bring them!"

The mechanic nodded mutely, and walked his suit off into the warehouse. Ethan called in to the sniper perched in the rafters.

"Sam, how good's your aim?"

* * *

Not long after, the dust from the factories was starting to clear, and Ethan could make out the form of dozens of human silhouettes approaching. His brows furrowed, and he whispered over the radio.

"Eyes up everybody, here they come."

He gazed down the sights of his AMP's gun, and scowled when he saw who was leading the RDA's men.

The short red headed man stepped out from the dust cloud and glared, unimpressed, at the barricade.

"Gregor," he called out, his nasally voice reverberating throughout the warehouse, "I know you're in there. Surrender now, and maybe you'll live to see a fair trial."

The little man smiled maliciously, but seemed to falter at the appearance of Ethan's heavily armed suit at the barricade.

"Hey there Monty, long time no see. What's a little leprechaun like you doing away from his pot o' gold?"

The short commander scowled.

"Sometimes I wonder why they ever let you out of the psycho ward Ethan. Not to worry, I'm sure that the doctors will be more than happy to take another whack at you until the colonel gets back from mopping up those monkeys."

Ethan grinned. The short captain practically worshipped Quaritch. He would enjoy this.

"Yah that could take a while Monty. Unless you're planning on going and fighting the viperwolves for his corpse, you won't be seeing Quaritch for a while."

Monty's face paled at this, but he quickly resumed his banter, if somewhat less cocky.

"You're bluffing. There's no way in hell those animals could beat a full deployment of gunships, and a Dragon carrier. The vortex is keeping comms scrambled, but they'll be back any minute now."

Ethan shook his head.

"You delusional little munchkin. Comms are down with them because they're dead. And the exact same force that destroyed your precious colonel is on its way here as we speak. So I ask you, will you surrender?"

The short captain's face was beet red.

"That's it! Enough of your bullshit Gregor! You have five seconds to surrender before I order my men to attack. Five."

Ethan whispered orders to Sam and his troops over the radio.

"Four."

The mutineers crouched behind the walls, ready to fire, but invisible to the RDA men.

"Three."

The RDA soldiers aimed their guns.

"Two."

Ethan revved the Gatling gun.

"One. Fire!"

The word had hardly left his mouth before the RDA grunts were cut down by fire from the Gatling gun on Ethan's suit, and the cocky smile on Monty's face was wiped away as twenty of his men were blown away. A shot from Sam overhead struck him in the face, piercing the mask and leaving a bloody splatter on its inside. The captain's expression of mute horror was locked onto his shattered face forevermore.

Devoid of leadership, the grunts began pouring through the door, and disorganized mob charging and shooting haphazardly. Their bullets began to reach the barricade, and Ethan shouted over the radio to his sniper.

"Sam, now!"

A single bullet sped through the air, sinking into the large welding tank that had been leaned inconspicuously against the wall at the eastern entrance. A burst of flame erupted from the ruptured tank, igniting the handful of soldiers near it, as well as setting off a chain reaction. The dozen or so explosives Sam and Ethan had hidden around the door way ignited as well, and within a split second the entire doorway was enveloped in fire, and the screams of the dying soldiers rang out over the roar of the blaze. The entire eastern doorway was burning, though the gases on which it fed would soon run out. Knowing his time was short, Ethan turned to somber faces of his troops.

"Alright everybody, we knew this would happen. Take positions along the barricade, but pick your shots. We have limited ammo. Mike, watch the western entrance for those AMP's, let me know when they get here, and Sam, keep an eye out who looks like they're giving orders. Shut them up before this rabble gets organized again. People, I know most of you aren't soldiers, but they are trying to kill us, but if you value your life and the lives of your teammates, then you're gonna' have to learn to fire that weapon you're holding. Understood?"

There was a round of half-hearted mutters and nods, and Ethan scowled. He would have to get them more motivated than this if they were to survive.

"Understood?" he repeated himself, voice booming.

There was a firm chorus of "Yes sir!"s from the soldiers, and firmer responses from the others, including the Avatars. He nodded in approval, but held his tongue upon seeing Ella's somber nod. He sighed. _She'll need some serious help after this,_ he thought, but concluded, with resentment, that it would have to wait. He returned his attention to the doorways, where the fire was beginning to dissipate.

"Alright people, places! Fire at will, but pick your shots. We can't get any more ammo if ours run out, " he shouted, before adding under his breath "and God help us all."

When the last of the flames sputtered out, the scene left was hellish. The entire area was blackened, with the charred bodies of the dead littered copiously about, like scattered, dried up leaves. Even Ethan, as battle hardened as he was, was given pause by the site, if only briefly, and his tactical, soldier's mind took back over. Doing a brief body count, he concluded that they had taken out roughly fifty of them, but that still left just over a hundred, plus the AMP suits. He swallowed hard. They were in for a rough fight.

**End Chapter. FWBOOM!!! You got to love big explosions. This chapter was originally going to be longer, but again, school. I figured you guys would prefer a quicker update to a more delayed one. The action will continue as soon as possible. Stay tuned.**


	12. Alamo

**Disclaimer: James Cameron and various movie studios own Avatar, sigh. I do, however, own my own characters and story, so hands off! Alright dear readers, welcome to another chapter of Redemption of the Sky. You may notice that I finally changed the summary. Maybe I'll eventually get to the stuff I said in the original, but until then I'm having too much fun writing this kind of thing. Also, I have received a comment or two regarding my OC's. If you guys don't like them, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Ok, that's it from me for now, so enjoy.**

At the Tree of Souls, a battered, bruised, and bleeding Na'vi awoke with a gasp, breathing heavily. Those tending to his injuries recoiled in shock. With his injuries, it was a miracle he wasn't dead, let alone conscious.

"Where, where am I? What has happened with the battle?"

Mo'at had been making her rounds through the injured, and noticing his awakening, rushed over to the warrior.

"Be calm, you are safe now. The battle was won. The rest of our warriors have gone to attack the lair of the Sky People."

"Then I must join....ugh."

The warrior's urgent tone of voice was replaced with pained groans as he sat up, and Mo'at quickly, though gently, pushed him back into a laying position.

"You must rest. It will no good for anyone if you go into battle injured."

The warrior gritted his teeth and rose, shakily at first, to his feet.

"If I am well enough to walk, I am well enough to fight. How do I reach the others?"

Mo'at's face was somber as she pointed up to the sky.

"Just follow the smoke. But please, I must insist that you stay here."

"I thank you for your concern, but I must go and fight with our brothers and sisters."

"Very well then. Your will is your own. May the strength of Eywa be with you Tsu'tey."

* * *

Ethan fired the AMP's gun with jaw clenched, eyes intense. The fires at the eastern entrance had died down, and RDA infantry were pouring through. The bullets from the oversized weapon tore holes through them before exiting in a splatter of red. Ethan was methodical, keeping count, starting from the 51 the explosions had killed.

_62, 63...stand still you bastard, 64._ Mike's voice over the radio took command over his attention.

"What is it Mike?"

"The AMP's are at the western door!

"Alright calm down, take my place. I'll handle those tin cans."

Ethan moved the suit to the far end of the barricade, where Mike was taking heavy fire from the suits, his own AMP's windshield near shattered from the number of impacts. There were numerous cracks, and in it, he was donning his mask. The mechanic ducked the suit down out of the range of fire and looked imploringly at Ethan. The soldier grunted, switched his gun onto the grenade launcher, and popped up from behind cover. With a roar, he launched a shot off, and quickly reloaded the mechanism, ready to fire again by the time the first shot landed, obliterating the top half of the closest enemy suit. The second round fell short, landing at the feet of the targeted suit, though the explosion was enough to destroy the suit's legs, and send the torso tumbling back to the ground. Ethan went to reload the launcher, only to find it devoid of any more of the cannonball sized bombs. He had used all four. By this time, the remaining three suits had trained their fire on him, and were slowly but steadily advancing on the barricade. Ethan swore, before the sight of what they were passing caught his eye.

A large metal shelf, already shaken from its bolts by the earlier explosions, was leaning ever so slightly towards the encroaching AMP's, the only thing holding it from gravity's influence being a few visibly strained cables at the top, securing it to the ceiling.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, before revving the Gatling and firing blindly up into the cables fastenings. Enough of the high velocity rounds struck true, and Ethan was rewarded by the sound of groaning metal as the cables frayed, and eventually snapped, sending the junk laden shelf careening towards the three suits. Two spotted the incoming doom, and jumped out of it' way, though the third was not as lucky, and was buried under the a mountain of mechanical equipment. Swearing, Ethan revved the Gatling once again, but the remaining suits ducked behind the newly formed cover that had consumed their comrade, and from the sounds of shifting metal that reached his ears, Ethan could only conclude they intended to dig himself out. Cursing his luck, Ethan surveyed the situation. It was not good.

Some of the remaining infantry had swung around to the western entrance, so that the mutineers were now taking fire from both sides. There were roughly forty men on each side, all entrenched behind some kind of quick cover. The barricade was a rough semi-circle against the back wall of the warehouse. They were now taking infantry fire from both sides, as well as from the front, where the AMP's and the toppled shelf were. The grim faced soldier looked over his troops. So far, the only casualties appeared to be Avatar's, as bout 4 of the large blue bodies were slumped over with various injuries, their drivers retreating to the safety of their human bodies to escape the pain. Ethan let loose a few more shots before shifting his radio channel.

"Max, thing's aren't looking good over here. How's everything on your end?"

* * *

Max Patel was crouched behind an overturned desk, aiming a pistol over it at the door. All around him, others were doing the same, though in most cases with heavier weaponry. They had barred the door shut, and piled up desks and chairs in front of it, but despite it all, the RDA was still trying to enter. The hiss of a welding torch could be heard as a flickering white hot spot slowly moved on the metal of the door, leaving a narrow cut in its wake. It was only a matter of time before it completed its circuit.

"Ethan, it's no good here either. We barred the doors, but I think they're cutting through them. A little bit longer and they'll be through it!"

Max heard the soldier swear on the other end, and a few gunshots accompanied it.

"Damn it Max they got us surrounded. How far out are Sulley and the Na'vi?"

Max looked back at the door, just visible through the mound of furniture they had blocked it with. The cut was moving steadily, almost a third of the way through.

"No idea. Lost contact with them the minute they entered the vortex."

Another curse from Ethan.

"No good. Alright a couple of the Avatar drivers must've bugged out. The bodies are injured, but nothing to major. They alright?"

Max glimpsed back at the huddled group; the shaking figures were sitting down, slowly sipping from water bottles.

"Yah. They're a bit shaken, but once the pain fades they'll be fine."

Max checked the cut. It was almost three quarters of the way done. Max heard more gunshots from the radio.

"Shit. They're advancing! You have to hold out there Max, these guys are shooting to kill. Try and get word to Sulley if you can. Good luck."

The cut was nearing completion.

"You to Ethan. It's been quite a ride."

"Damn straight. See you on the other side."

The connection was cut, and Max heard the hiss of the welding torch die. Muffled voices made their way through the door, but one sentence stood out above the others.

"Break this door down and shoot every son of a bitch inside."

* * *

There was a shifting in the pile of junk from the toppled shelf, and Ethan turned to see the buried AMP break free of it, and stand triumphantly. A burst from the Gatling gun quickly sent it toppling back down, cockpit torn to pieces. There were still two AMP's left, and the infantry were moving ever closer. He switched back to the regular gun, and prayed for a miracle, or in this case, a mistake. Finally, his opportunity presented itself. One of the AMP's popped up from behind the remains of the shelf, and, Ethan opened fire. The bullets slammed into the windshield, pinging off, but leaving enough cracks to, hopefully, blind the pilot. He gazed at the bayonet affixed to his weapon, and had a moment of inspiration.

He turned to his troops before shouting, "Hold down the fort boys!", and vaulting over the barricade with half a plan and a prayer.

Ethan urged the suit on as fast as it would go, and in a instant, all of the infantry fire was directed at him. Bullets ricocheted off the suit at wild angles, flying off into the warehouse at every direction. He reached the mound of rubble just as one of the two remaining suits rose up to fire. With a roar of rage, Ethan gripped his gun with both hands and leapt towards his opponent, plunging the bayonet into the cockpit, and the chest of the driver. The second driver barely had time to register the screams of his companion before Ethan was upon him, tackling the suit with his own. The two mechanical behemoths were locked combat, rolling across the warehouse floor. For a split second, all eyes combat stopped, and the combatants on both sides stared at the two AMP's, but the gravity of the situation struck them, and bullets were soon flying once again.

For what seemed like an eternity, Ethan rolled across the concrete floor with the last remaining AMP, neither able to gain the upper hand. Their roll finally came to an end when they hit the wall, with Ethan on the bottom. Still dizzy from the tumble across the floor, Ethan's vision cleared just in time to see the large metal fist of the opposing AMP coming down towards him. He threw up his own arms just in time, blocking the blow, and knocking the other suit off balance. Swinging his own punch at the suit, Ethan's blow landed just to the side of the cockpit, but was enough to knock the suit off of him. Ethan rose to his feet as fast as possible, and turned to face his foe.

The two suits stood mere yards apart, unarmed, Ethan's Gatling gun having fallen off in the struggle. Both AMP's were battered, cracks in the windshields, exposed wires sparking. The two pilots stared grimly at each other, and Ethan cracked his neck.

"Let's dance bitch!"

* * *

Max ducked down as bullets flew through the breach in the door. The door itself had been long since removed, and the RDA troops were slowly but surely working their way through the piled up furniture, and as the opening widened, the bullets coming through increased. Max took a deep breath. He had been steeling himself for a moment like this ever since he broke Jake out of holding with Trudy. He knew a time would come when things would get violent. Clutching the pistol tight, he mimicked the soldiers around him; pop up, shoot, go down. He was not a violent man, but he didn't want to die. The hole kept widening as even more furniture was removed. Something had to be done, or they'd be over whelmed. His mind raced as he looked about wildly for something, anything he could use. His eyes fell on the near empty cart Ethan had brought from the armory, a mere hour ago, though it felt like an eternity. He made a mad dash across the floor, ducking behind each table in succession, until he reached the cart, and pulled it close.

Bullets whizzed overhead as he rummaged through the boxes with sweaty, shaking hands until they wrapped around a small, tubular shape. Withdrawing it, Max identified it as one of the stun grenades Ethan had told them about. Max quickly grabbed as many as he could carry, and rushed over to the nearest soldier. When the man ducked down, Max tugged his arm, and pressed a grenade into his hand. The man looked at Max and nodded, taking the stun grenade before popping up, pulling the pin, and tossing it into the breach. There was a string of curses, followed by a bright light and loud explosion. His ears ringing, Max could barely hear the grenade thrower yell.

"Flash bang out, light them up boys!"

The stream of bullets coming from the hole stopped, and its flow reversed as the mutineers fired into it. The same soldier tossed in another flash bang for good measure before dashing up to the hole and venturing a quick peek. He ran back to Max, panting slightly.

"Dr. Patel, we got about thirty hostiles out there. There's no cover out in that hall, so if you all think you can hold them, I'll take a few men and some of the heavier machine guns and flank em'. We'll head out the airlock to the Avatar compound, it'll take, maybe five minutes tops."

Max nodded.

"A-Alright. Fine. just hurry ok?"

The soldier tipped his hat, or helmet rather, to Max, and after grabbing four other soldier, headed for the airlock. Before they left, the very same soldier, whose tags labeled Sgt. Kombes, grabbed Max and shoved a stun grenade at him.

"Toss one of these puppies in there if the fire gets to intense, but hold off if you hear us shoootin' them. It'll be no good if we're blinded too."

Max could only shake his head, and reload his pistol.

* * *

The two AMP's in Warehouse 13 once more locked in combat, and around them the infantry continued shooting. From behind the mutineer's barricade, Ella Gregor could only watch as a her brother squared off against the other pilot. Each one was throwing punches at the other, while simultaneously trying to protect their own cockpit. If a blow shattered that, it was game over. Neither was gaining an advantage, but as Ella watched, she saw that the combatants were slowly drawing nearer to the toppled shelf, and Ethan's gun, still stuck into the fallen AMP. She prayed her brother noticed this before it was too late, and turned to fire back at the RDA infantry.

Ethan took a hard step back to avoid a wide over handed blow from his opponent, only to trip on some unseen obstacle, and fall backwards. In a heartbeat, the other suit was upon him, and Ethan could see the pilot smiling at his impending victory. Just as the opposing AMP was about to reach him, Ethan drew up his legs and struck in a double kick, sending the suit reeling. Gritting his teeth, Ethan turned on his side to get to his feet, and in doing so saw his salvation. His AMP gun, bayonet still within the chest of the pilot, stuck in the suit he had killed first in his desperate charge. Half crawling, he reached for it as fast as he could. Climbing to his feet, he ripped the gun from its resting place, and, upon seeing that the barrel had been bent and it was now inoperable, brandished it like a club and charged.

He swung it like a baseball bat, the bloodied and pointed blade of the bayonet facing his target, at the still disoriented AMP, and it struck true. The windshield shattered under the blow, and the blade glanced the pilot, though it was enough o near decapitate him. With its pilot dead, the AMP suit's motion controls ceased to function, and, unfettered, it fell like a dead tree.

Ethan was breathing heavily, and he held the bent gun turned club overhead, victoriously. The suit however, had had enough. Alarms in the cockpit began going off, and Ethan felt the suit shudder before collapsing, too many wires frayed and fuel and hydraulic lines cut to go on. Ethan swore before sliding on his mask and hitting the emergency release on the cockpit. There was a low hiss, nearly drowned out by gunfire, as the battered windshield sung outwards, and Ethan, the submachine gun he'd taken from the Ops Center guard in hand, hopped out, and was immediately under fire from his entrenched RDA foes. His radio was instantly abuzz.

"Calm down everyone, I'm fine! Sam, take some of this pressure off me if you have a chance, but stay focused on eliminating any officers present. Everyone else, stick to your orders and for God's sake stay behind the barricade! I can handle myself out here."

Not a second after this, a bullet struck his left shoulder, and he cursed loudly, dropping submachine gun and dove behind his dead AMP suit. Ethan's face was contorted in pain, but he had been trained for this. Reaching into his belt, his right hand found one of the two pistols he was carrying. Every fighting man on base knew Ethan Gregor's reputation with handguns. The rumors of his prowess would soon be put to the test. Gun in hand, the soldier picked his target and fired off a single shot. The man who had clipped his shoulder went down, and Ethan sprinted to the man' s hiding place, finishing him off with a slash from his knife and taking his cover. It was time to enter the fray.

* * *

Max's hands shook as he tossed in another flash bang, waiting and hoping desperately that Kombes would succeed. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard the distinct rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire not a minute later. It was soon cut off though, and Max felt his face contort in horror, praying it wasn't for the reason he thought. He had to know though. He pulled the pins off of two flash bangs and tossed them into the breach, waiting for their detonations before rushing up to the hole. He gazed into it, and nearly vomited.

Blood decorated the walls, and bodies littered the floors. Off to the right, he could see where Kombes and his men laid, three of them still visibly alive, though in pain. The sergeant himself hadn't made it. Off to the left were perhaps five men, the only ones left standing, and, Max, presumed, Kombes's killers. A cold fury arose in his heart, and raising the pistol, Max emptied the gun's eighteen shot clip. Five men fell, and the scientist lowered the gun, hands shaking and eyes wide. Everything fell silent, and Max dropped the pistol in horror, reeling at what he had just done. The remaining soldiers took over, gently pushing him to the side as they cleared away the last of the desks and chairs, trying to reach Kombes and his men. Max walked to his desk, almost in a trance, and sat down, staring at the reflection of himself in the glass table.

_What have I done?_

* * *

The battle in Warehouse 13 continued. The mutineers were outnumbered near three to one, a n attacking force whittled down to sixty as opposed to their twenty. Ethan was working his way through the men near the western door, a large red bloom slowly soaking his shirt. Ella raised her gun to fire and pulled the trigger, only to hear the click of an empty clip. All around her, similar situations were playing out, and she realized with mounting horror that they were out of ammo. The RDA was realizing this as well, and they began, slowly at first but with increasing boldness, advancing on the barricade. Soon, the only one left with rounds was Mike and his AMP, and the mechanic switched from side to side, shooting as carefully as he could, for even the shots from Sam's sniper nest had ceased. Ella knew it would not be enough. There were at least a half a dozen working to flank her brother, and the rest were starting to encircle the barricade. They needed a miracle.

Ethan was getting desperate. Taking cover from one angle of fire, or even two, was easy. But six was far too much. He couldn't keep track of them all. He was crawling at this point, fleeing from the infantry who seemed intent on hunting him down. He didn't see the other soldier until it was too late. Glancing up, Ethan found himself staring down the barrel of a burly RDA grunt's gun. The man gave him a toothy grin and went to pull the trigger. Ethan closed his eyes, knowing his time had come, but instead of the expected gunshot, there was only a wet thud. Opening his eyes once more, Ethan stared at the yard long arrow protruding from the man's chest, and hopped out of the way as he fell. Looking back, he saw the same fate befall his other pursuers. Ethan shifted his gaze to the Western door, and grinned as shrill war cry reached his ears. The warehouse had an exceptionally high ceiling, and Ethan watched as no less than ten of banshees, each with a Na'vi rider, swooped through the warehouse, a rain of arrows following in their wake. The RDA grunts were turned to pincushions, and Ethan grinned, even through the pain in his shoulder. The cavalry had arrived.

**End Chapter. The Na'vi finally made it to the party, though Max is now ridden with guilt, as is Ella. How will all this play out? Stay tuned to find out. Please review. Oh, and special thanks to "kissmekent", or whoever that was if I got the wrong name. Anyways, they alerted me to some technical difficulties involved with posting Chapter 11. What can I say, technology hates me sometimes. If I got the name wrong, you know who you are. Thanks again.**


	13. Loose Ends, Part 1

**Disclaimer: Considering I am not JC or a movie studio, I do not own Avatar. But I do own my own characters and story, so that's something I guess. Alright, well, aside from scaring a some of you with the title, the last chapter brought us the return of Tsu'tey and the arrival of the Na'vi at Hell's Gate, as well as a load of emotional conflict. How will all this work out? Read on...**

Ethan Gregor struggled to his feet, and was surprised when he felt a hand, a very large hand, helping him up. Rising to his feet, Ethan turned and looked into the face of Jake Sulley's Avatar. The likeness was uncanny, and the soldier identified him immediately. Gunfire had been quieted by the Na'vi's aerial pass through, but the RDA were quick to respond. Bullets were once more flying, and Jake quickly ducked down as well.

"Sulley, nice of you to join us. What the hell took so long?"

"Ah you know. Had to stop for directions and a pit stop."

"Very funny wiseass. Now our guys are pinned down in that barricade, and Max and the rest are in the Links Center. Get your people moving, now!"

Jake nodded at the booming order's source, but hazarded a concerned glance at Ethan's shoulder. The older soldier noticed this and scowled at him.

"I'm fine. Go!"

Jake looked quizzically at him.

"What are you going to do?"

"I've got some loose ends to tie up."

With that, Ethan fired off a few more shots and made a dash for the eastern entrance. Jake shrugged, picked up his bow, retrieved his arrow from the dead RDA grunt, and sprinted back to the western door, where several Na'vi had dismounted their ikran and were peppering the RDA soldiers near them with the poison tipped arrows. The blitzkrieg worked, and within seconds there were near forty corpses sprouting arrow shafts lying on the warehouse floor. The western end was cleared, but the soldiers on the east, having noticed their compatriots fate, had begun retreating back to cover. A few of the Na'vi had already taken bullet wounds, and they, under Jake's command, took cover as well.

Ethan had been near halfway to the door when the soldiers ran back to their cover. Swearing, he popped off a few more rounds from his pistol, noting with satisfaction that a man fell for each shot he loosed, before ducking back behind a bullet ridden Samson. Ethan fired up his radio.

"Mike, there's nothing out here they got that can hurt you. Come one out and give em' hell!"

The last remaining AMP suit in the warehouse vaulted over the barricade wall and began charging the RDA troops at the eastern door, bullets pinging off the suit harmlessly. Mike was picking his shots carefully, conserving precious ammo, and whenever a soldier got close enough, he'd let loose a mighty kick that would send the man flying.

Ethan grinned as the way to the door was once again opened for him.

* * *

A few minutes later, the warehouse had been won, the remaining twenty or so RDA soldiers laying down their guns in surrender as a tattered white rag was raised from their position amongst the rubble. Mike used his suit to slide one of the abused Samson's that had formed their barricade aside, letting the remaining mutineers emerge from it. The injured were being carried out on stretchers, while Mike in his suit made trips to remove the abandoned Avatar bodies. Their injuries would need to be treated before drivers could return to them. All in all, not a single soul had been lost. Jake was supervising the rounding up of the RDA soldiers. He fail to notice the lithe female Avatar approach him from behind until she tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me, my, my name is Ella Gregor. My brother Ethan, he was out there and I saw you talking to him. Where did he go?"

Jake surveyed the woman before him. Even in her Avatar, the relation to Ethan was visible. They shared the same sharp facial features, though hers were now crossed with worry, and some deeper sorrow.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure. He's a smart man though, and a strong one. My teams all know what he looks like. He'll turn up eventually, don't worry."

Ella's face fell, and she looked away.

"Alright, th-thank you."

She walked out of the western door, forlorn, and, finding a secluded corner, sat down upon a chunk of rubble and let the tears come. A tide of fresh memories, the moments where she had killed, starting with the AMP pilot and working through every single men she had seen die from a shot she took, played through her mind over and over again, the lives she had cut short. She didn't know how Ethan did it, dealt with the overwhelming guilt. She realized with a start that she didn't want to know either.

* * *

Jake had just finished giving direction to his teams, to sweep through each building thoroughly, rounding up every RDA employee they found, and then returning, when he saw a figure walk, or rather limp, through the door that gave him pause.

"Tsu'tey, brother, what are you doing here? You should be resting."

The warrior brushed off the concerns idly, though when he stopped to face Jake, he was visibly pained.

"It is nothing. My place is here, with our warriors, fighting."

He was breathing heavily, obviously taxed by his journey.

Jake shook his head.

"You are by far the most stubborn person I know. I would prefer you to go back and rest, but since we both know that won't happen, I have to ask you, are you willing to do whatever duty I give you to the best of your ability?

Tsu'tey rolled his eyes in scorn if the question.

"Of course!"

"Then I need you to stay here, help protect our allies while they get ready to move."

Tsu'tey's face contorted in anger, but Jake cut him off before he had a chance to speak.

"Brother, I know this is not what you had in mind, but listen to me. This is important. You are a danger to yourself and to those you fight with if you go out there injured," Tsu'tey tried to look away, but Jake met his gaze again, "you know this. For the good of the People, you must swallow your pride and listen to me, alright?"

Tsu'tey looked back to Jake, eyes cold. The Marine sighed.

"Thank you brother. Now listen, these men and women have fought for Eywa, and they need protection while they treat their injured. I'm leaving you with a few of our warriors. I am giving you this duty because I trust you Tsu'tey. These humans are our allies."

The warrior accepted his command grudgingly, and watched as Jake and the other's split up into teams to take the other warehouses. He did not like his job, but he understood its importance, so tsu'tey began making rounds of the warehouse, glaring at the humans clustered in its center, suspicious despite Jake's assurances. When he reached the western entrance however, his ears perked up. The unmistakable sound of crying was emanating from the alley between two warehouses, and, intrigued, Tsu'tey began slowly approaching it, peeking into the space to find the source. He was surprised to see a Na'vi woman. Closer inspection revealed it not to be a Na'vi, but an "Avatar", as Jake called them. Tsu'tey looked at her with a mixture of the old sense of disgust he felt at the human abominations, and at the same time an unexpected fascination. Armed with broken English garnered from Dr. Augustine's school and time spent around Jake, he decide to approach her.

Ella heard the footsteps before she saw their owner, looking up, she was surprised to see a Na'vi warrior, in complete battle regalia, standing before her. She attempted to stem the tide of tears, but failed.

"Leave, leave me alone," she managed to whimper through sniffles.

Tsu'tey continued advancing, stopping a few yards shy of her.

"I am Tsu'tey, Jakesulley left me here to protect our allies. It will be easier if you are all in one place."

Ella glared at him

"I don't suppose you happen to have the tribal psychologist back there do you? Because that would be one of the only people I want to see right now."

Ella winced after the words, sounding much harsher and bitter than intended, left her mouth.

The warrior looked at her, perplexed, and Ella sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean, I just, its," she sighed once more, "I just want to be left alone now is all."

Tsu'tey stared at her intently, recalling Jake's words.

_If these people fought for us,_ he thought_, then she must have had to kill her own kind._

The realization hit him with a start, and Tsu'tey looked at her with new sympathy and pity.

"Taking a life is never easy, and it is right to feel remorse at it."

Ella looked back up at him in surprise, the words unexpected.

"What?"

Tsu'tey sighed. _I am going to regret this, _he thought, as he walked closer to the Avatar and sat down on the large chunk of building with her.

"To kill should not be easy. It is right for you to feel guilt, but you must learn to live with it and move on. All life is merely borrowed from Eywa. All returns in time."

Ella's tears began to slow, and eventually stop without her notice.

"Why are you doing this?"

The question caught Tsu'tey off guard, for he truly did not know himself. He paused for a moment, unsure of himself.

"Because, I, because it is the right thing to do. You took those lives for the sake of my people. Comfort is the least we can do to return the favor."

Tsu'tey wanted to leave. He did not know why he was so fascinated with a member of a group he had so despised, but he knew he had to get away from her, even if part of him wanted to stay. rising to his feet, he turned to head back out of the alley when the woman's words gave him pause.

"Thank you, Tsu'tey. I...my name is Ella, Ella Gregor. I will be over at the warehouse in a bit. I'm just going to take a little while longer to calm down. Tsu'tey nodded, then continued to walk away, leaving her, though she would not leave his mind.

**End Chapter. Just for you artemismoon... something or other. The Tsu'tey chapter, for those (or maybe just you very persistently) who have been asking for one. Sorry if this one is a bit action deprived as compared to others, but not every chapter can be a shoot em' up. Please take not dear readers that I am entering the week of the dreaded midterms, so you might not hear from me for a while. See you on the other side folks.**


	14. Loose Ends, Part 2

**Disclaimer: The movie isn't mine but this story is. Insert witty comment here. Holy crap. Midterms are evil. The first round of them I had really kicked my butt, so to unwind I thought I'd pen the second part of "Loose Ends". One quick note before we begin, I am making a slight leap of logic here. Though never directly stated in the movie, I'm going to assume that the Na'vi are just fine with breathing the simulated Earth air in Hell's Gate. I mean, from the looks of the Pandoran jungle, there is obviously some kind of photosynthesis going on, and therefore oxygen in the atmosphere. So everyone's favorite big blue semi cat like aliens should be fine with the cocktail of gases humans breathe. Ok, little science -y bit done, so let's get this show on the road.**

Within the hour, the Na'vi teams had rounded up the humans of Hell's Gate, including those locked in the barracks, and they, under heavy guard, had been assembled on the tarmac while a carrier was being prepared to fly them back up to the ISV Venture Star. Only the mutineers were given the option of staying. The victorious rebels had assembled in the dining hall for celebration, with a few notable exceptions.

Max Patel sat at his desk in the Ops Center, eyes bloodshot, a bottle in hand. He had watched his father slowly drink himself to death, and sworn never to touch liquor again in his life, but that iron willpower had melted under the grief he felt. Max finished off his drink with a hefty swig, he hadn't even bothered to check what type of liquor it was when he grabbed it; he didn't care. The bottle slammed down onto his desk once emptied, and turning in his chair, Max looked at his reflection in disgust. A sudden noise from behind interrupted his wallowing, and turning, his reflexes slightly dulled by the alcohol, Max saw Jake. or his Avatar at least, crouching down to enter through the main door, bloodstains on the walls and floors in the hall the only reminder of the battle a mere hour before.

Kombes and the few other dead had been placed reverently in the morgue, while the injured were being treated a small group of the medical staff whose sympathy for the Na'vi was known, and, as such, they were being permitted to stay. Max had neglected to bring them in on the mutinee. After all, a dermatologist or dietician were little use when it came to shooting or sabotage. The other researchers he had brought on board had at least been able to help with the hacking of RDA security and set up of the mutiny communications.

Jake, his Avatar form much too large for the furnishings of the room, carefully picked his way through the desks and link pods, now devoid of occupants, the drivers having gone to attend the party, while the bodies were returned to the Avatar compound, until he reached the somber researcher, and crouched down next to him. His voice was soft, but firm.

"Max, what are you doing to yourself?"

He didn't miss a beat.

"Following the grand tradition of my father, what does it look like?"

The words were bitter, and possessed an edge Jake had never heard from the usually calm, cool, and collected scientist. Jake shook his head.

"Max, I know what happened. You did the right thing, you saved those men's lives and ..."

Max cut him off.

"But at the cost of five other lives Jake. Five lives I took, that are on my hands."

Jake began to raise his voice, frustrated by his friend's state, yet still pitying of him.

"Those men would have shot you without a second thought Max. It came down to you and your men, or them and theirs. Anyone else would have done the same in your position."

Max stared at the empty bottle, shaking his head.

"And to think I swore I'd never sink to his level, and yet here I am."

His voice trailed off, and Jake was quick to respond.

"Look, Max, Grace told me all about you and your dad. Don't go down that path. Drinks will only numb the pain for so long. You have to learn to live with it. Every soldier does."

Max scoffed at that.

"And thus they all became soldiers," he quoted, speech slightly slurred, "men and women who did what had to be done because they were the only ones who could do it," he sighed, "or something like that."

Max shook his head, laughing quietly at his own self pity.

"Get me out of here Jake, that bottle is going to be the end of me."

The Marine nodded, and helped, gently at first, his friend to the door, intending on returning him to the party. His Avatar still had his radio on, and it was a sudden burst of static over it that distracted him from his escort duty.

"Jake? Jake?! You there? We got a problem!"

It was Trudy, her voice desperate.

Holding Max from falling with one hand, he answered the call with his other.

"This is Jake, what's going on?"

"It's Ethan. This is really bad."

Jake's ears perked up at the sound of the soldier's name. No one had seen hide or hair of him since the battle at the warehouse.

"What about Ethan? Start from the beginning."

Trudy gave an exasperated sigh, and started.

"Alright, so me and Norm were doing one last sweep of the security camera feed before cutting the connection, and I remember you telling how Ethan had ran off. We found him."

Jake was confused as to the desperation in her voice.

"What's wrong then? Is he hurt?"

"No, but this is just as bad. He's locked himself in the Ops Center, alone. With Selfridge."

Jake's eyes widened. He knew what that meant.

"Oh God. He'll kill him. You said he was in the Ops Center, right?"

He could hear Trudy swallow hard.

"Yah. You have to hurry though. Find his sister Ella, she's probably the only one who can get through to him at this point. Ethan is going to make this long and painful. Go, now!"

Jake didn't need told twice. He picked up Max and began to dash down the halls.

* * *

Parker Selfridge awoke with a groan, head pounding, only to find himself bound to a office chair, a foul tasting rag gagging his mouth. Cracking open his eyes, he saw a sight that nearly made him pass out once more. Ethan Gregor sat in the chair across from him, dark smile decorating his face as he slowly and deliberately sharpened his knife on the chunk of unobtainium Selfridge always kept on his desk. The soldier smiled at him, while Parker broke into a cold sweat.

"You have to love a good blade. This titanium alloy knife got me through the hell you and Quaritch sent me into. Perfect for this planet too. Alloy is completely nonmagnetic, so all these funky rocks floating around make fantastic whetstones to sharpen it."

Tossing the million dollar metal chunk aside as if were some idle piece of trash, Ethan leaned in close to his captive, knife point a mere inch from Selfridge's throat. His voice was low, words whispered into the corporate man's ear.

"You know I learned all about how you and Quaritch sent me and my men into that hell when I got back. We were mercenaries, hired guns who were supposed to shoot first and ask questions later, not think about the orders. So Quaritch decided to get rid of us in one quick move. Sure it was all his plan, but you approved it. You signed the death warrant for nine of my men when you authorized that mission!"

The last words were roared with a seething rage as Ethan stepped back from the man, only to turn and deliver a wild backhand to his face.

"You just let it all happen, and watched while we got picked off, one by one. First the gunship crashed. Some kind of mysterious mechanical failure. Our bird went down, and pilot, Rios, and Michaels all went up in flames."

Ethan produced a cigarette lighter from his pocket, a large one, and began flicking it around in his hands, awhile Selfridge eyed it nervously.

Of course, then there were the shrapnel wounds and burns the rest of us had. Jack and Carlos bled out before nightfall, the supplies in our medkit having been seemingly emptied before we even left the base."

Selfridge was breathing heavy through the rag, any words he spoke being muffled and garbled beyond recognition.

"I put the gag on you because I knew your big lying mouth would be a problem, now shut the hell up and listen!"

Parker fell silent at that, a quick lapse in Ethan's cold and calm demeanor which was quickly repaired.

"By the time night rolled around, the six of us had bunkered down at the downed convoy, thinking the machines would keep us safe."

Ethan stopped a moment, shaking his head.

"God damn viperwolves came after us, whole friggin' pack of them. Got Dom, Ivan, and Bryan before will could do a thing. We shot them all, thought we were finally safe, and then banshees came after us. I barely got under overhead cover in time. Took Ricky and Big Ben like they weighed nothing, swooping down like God damn vultures."

Ethan's voice was quivering, hate, anger and sorrow bubbling through it as he began to pace around the corporate desk jockey. As Ethan moved out of the way, he noticed a handful of things on the desk behind the soldier that made him shake in fear. There was a can of lighter fluid and oil taken from a garage, and a toothed clamp used for towing pallets that resembled a fanged jaw of a predator. It was then that Parker realized the true gravity of his situation, and began to panic, squirming in his seat. Ethan turned to look at the man, his face haggard.

"It's too late Selfridge. Just you and me now. And I intend to make you pay for every life that you ended on that mission."

**End Chapter. A quick one, I know, but I'm afraid school takes priority over writing. Please keep up the feedback, I love hearing what you guys think about chapters, and thanks for understanding the limitations I have on my updating. Until next time.**


	15. Reckoning

**Disclaimer: JC and various movie studios own Avatar. I, sadly, do not. Terrible, I know. I do however own my characters and this story. Alright, well in the previous two part chapter, Loose Ends, we saw Max and Ella overcoming their grief and misgivings over having to kill with the help of two very different sources. In the chaotic clean up after the fight though, Ethan slipped off to go finished what he started with Parker Selfridge. Unless Ella, Jake, and the others can get to him in time, things aren't boding well for Mr. Selfridge, and Ethan may slip back into the madness that gripped him after seeing his entire team torn to pieces by the beasts of Pandora, a grief filled insanity he nearly succumbed to the first time. Will they succeed? Read on.**

Jake sprinted down the halls of Hell's Gate, Max in tow, the long strides of his Avatar body carrying him through the metal passages with inhuman speed. He barked out orders over the radio between breaths.

"This is Jake, I need Ella Gregor at the Ops Center, now!"

His mad dash continued as he turned the corner, skidding on the shining floor as he rounded the bend. He silently prayed he'd make it in time.

* * *

Parker Selfridge could only watch in horror, cries muted by the foul rag stuffed in his mouth, as Ethan first picked up the canister of lighter fluid from the desk, holding it as if in contemplation before opting to put it down in favor of the large cigarette lighter. He flicked it open and crouched down in front of his captive, holding the flame close to the already terrified man's face.

"Do you know what kind of screams a man makes as he burns to death Mr. Selfridge? It's a cold, piercing noise, a pain filled blood curdling noise Mr. Selfridge. It was the noise that my men, and my pilot made in that crash. Because you sabotaged our gunship, three men died that way!"

Ethan was breathing hard as he stared Selfridge in the eye, the spineless corporate man's eyes wide. It took the soldier a moment to regain his composure. He flicked the lighter closed and returned it to his pocket.

"We'll save that for last. You'll know the kind of pain those men went through, the screams they made. But not yet."

Ethan took the large toothed clamp from the desk, opening and closing it experimentally.

"These pallet jacks are awful close to viperwolf jaws. A few less teeth maybe, and a bit smaller, but they're designed for the same job, close on something , sink the teeth, in, and never let go until it's all over. You're gonna' learn what my men, my brothers, went through when that pack attacked us. Soon, very soon."

Ethan go back to his feet, tossing the pallet jack aside, and in a flash had drawn his knife and held it before Selfridge.

"Of course, with any learning experience, you have to start with the basics."

Ethan's voice was cold, soft even, but it only made it all the more terrifying when he arced the knife down in a flash, stopping right as the tip began to dig into the man's shoulder. Selfridge let out a scream, only for it to be muffled near completely by the gag. Ethan shook his head.

"You know, I want to watch you grovel just one last time. To watch you try and give some pathetic lying excuse to save your own ass. Let's hear it you son of a bitch."

With deadly precision, Ethan sliced the strip holding the gag in off Parker's face, before yanking the rag from his mouth unceremoniously.

"For God's sake Gregor think! This is insane! I never authorized anything, it was all Quaritch's doing, I, I had no part in it!"

Ethan snarled at him.

"Don't you even dare try that one! I searched the databases. They got every mission ever sent out of this place. Your signature, or the bastard who came before you, is on every damn one! You condemned those men, my men, to death, and let the colonel do the dirty work!"

Ethan's face was burning up in rage, his pulse racing. Selfridge's heart was beating wildly for a whole different reason.

"It, it... it's not what you think! We needed to recover those trucks, wanted the best to get the job done! It was a terrible accident!"

Ethan slammed a punch into the man's gut, answering as Selfridge sat gasping and sputtering, reeling from the blow.

"You son of a bitch. Half the group was greener than grass, no experience. Only veterans on that one were me and the boys I flew to this jungle hell with. You. Killed. Them. Oh sure the animals helped, but you set us up to go down, took away our first aid, made us go out there in the first place!"

Selfridge coughed, and scrambled for words, desperately trying to save himself. Ethan shook his head and spat in the man's face.

"You disgust me. Can't even die with dignity. I'm doing this world, hell, any world a favor."

He shoved the gag back in, overcoming any weak opposition Parker put up. He raised his knife, ready to strike, and begin his vengeance. He swung his blade down, and the target of it clamped shut his eyes, terrified. The knife shimmered in the light as it was brought down. A sudden noise from the main area of the Ops Center stopped it's wielder cold however.

"Ethan, don't do this!"

The soldier swore, sheathing his knife and drawing a pistol with his good arm in one fluid motion. He turned to face his disruption.

"Damn it Sulley, this doesn't concern you! And how the hell did you get in here?"

The large blue Na'vi body Jake occupied was panting heavily, but he stared down the notorious Ethan Gregor.

"Max still has control of security, including the doors. Ethan, hasn't there been enough death today?"

"What difference will one more in the body count make then?"

Jake shook his head and began to step forward, only to have a large pistol cocked loudly and pointed at him. Jake glanced quickly at the weapon. The bullet would hurt, but it's small caliber wouldn't be enough to do too much damage on a creature his size. Ethan realized this the same time Jake did, and quickly trained it on Selfridge. That stopped Jake cold.

"Ethan, put the gun down. This is insane!"

The soldier just shook his head and gave a chuckle.

"Insane? Jake this whole day, this whole plan has been insane! Utter madness from beginning to end! I was crazy to go along with this in the first place, but then again a crazy man is predisposed to the insane I guess."

Jake was getting nervous. Ethan was losing it.

"Ethan, please. Think about what you're doing. We won. The mission is done."

Ethan shook his head, a wild glint in his eye.

"Oh no, no. Maybe for you it is, but not for me. You got me hooked on this little revolt of yours for one reason and one reason only; revenge on this piece of human trash."

The last few words were snarled through clenched teeth as Ethan pressed the pistol in to Selfridge's temple and a whimper escaped the man's muffled mouth. Jake was running out of ideas.

"Ethan, you have to stop this. Killing him won't bring those men back."

"I know, but it'll make me feel a hell of a lot better about that whole disaster when this scumbag has gone through everything they had to, all because the company was afraid of a little free thinking in its troops. "

Selfridge was, and had been ever since waking up, visibly panicking. Jake, again, went to try and step forward, but Ethan glared at him.

"Make one more move Sulley and Mr. Selfridge's office walls will be decorated with his own brain matter. Now leave!"

Jake stood defiantly.

"I can't let you do this Ethan. You know that."

"Of course I do. That's why I planned ahead. I have the manual override codes for these doors, so you get front row tickets. This conversation is over."

Realizing what was happening far too late, Jake dashed towards Selfridge's office, hopping over terminals and desks, only to arrive just as the transparent doors sealed with a hiss. Furious, he began to pound on them.

"It's no use Sulley. They're a polymer that's been tested to withstand military grade ballistics. The oversized Smurf you're driving won't be able to even scratch it."

Jake could only watch, helpless, as Ethan holstered the pistol and returned to the knife, sizing up Selfridge with a cold glare.

"Now where were we Mr. Selfridge? I think I'll start with the cuts and shrapnel wounds from the crash, then we'll work our way up through the predators, and finish up with the fire. Sound good to you?"

Ethan ignored the renewed struggles of his captive, smiling wickedly at him.

"Fantastic. Didn't think you'd have any objections to it. Let's get started then."

Ethan brought the knife down to the man's exposed forearm for the first cut, when shouts interrupted him.

"Ethan, don't!"

It was a new voice. A familiar voice. _Ella's_ voice.

The knife tumbled from his hand, clattering on the floor, and the soldier turned slowly to see his sister, her human body, not the Avatar, staring at him with a mixture of horror and disgust.

* * *

Ella Gregor had been sitting down at the party, not as light hearted as many others, but far from the melancholy depression she had been sunken into. She had been sitting with a few of the other drivers, quietly, as they carried on their conversation, thinking about the strange Na'vi who had approached her earlier. _Tsu'tey was his name, I think,_ she thought._ Maybe Jake or Max will know more about him_. That was when the joyful air of the party was dampened, by the unexpected arrival of one obviously winded messenger.

"Ella Gregor needs to report to the Ops Center, ASAP!"

The words came in between gasps, and feeling all eyes in the room suddenly upon her, she had politely excused herself and rushed down the hall to the room. And that was how she arrived to find Her brother, sealed behind some kind of glass wall, about to slice into Parker Selfridge.

"Ethan, don't!"

He dropped the knife and turned to face her, surprise etched into his face.

"E-Ella. You should go. I have to do this."

Ella was in disbelief. When the bombs fell during the last resource war on Earth, she had lost her parents. Ethan was her only surviving family, practically raising her, and always stressing, preaching to do the right thing, to follow her conscience, and yet there he was, standing before her, ready to kill for petty vengeance.

"Ethan, please. Unlock the door. You're scaring me."

She was near tears. She had watched her brother kill earlier that very day, and it had been horrible. But nowhere near what she was feeling as she watched this.

"You don't understand Ella. You weren't there. You didn't see them die. You didn't see what he caused!"

"Let the past rest Ethan. I can't lose you, and this, this is just eating you away."

Ethan paused, swallowing hard, lip quivering.

"He deserves this," he rasped, "for everything he's done he deserves this!"

"Who gave you the right to do this? Who made you judge, jury, and executioner?!"

Ella was in hysterics, and Jake could merely watch. Ethan stopped, his resolve wavering.

"You, you don't understand. None of you understand!"

He whipped out the pistol once more, pressing it firmly into Selfridge's forehead.

Ella stared at him coldly.

"Pull that trigger and you turn into what you always swore you'd never become. A cold-blooded killer. All commando, no conscience. That's not my brother. For God's sake, let him go Ethan!"

A few more soldiers had entered the room ,weapons drawn, upon hearing the shouting, only to be surprised by the sight of the man who had commanded them mere hours ago with a gun to a captive.

Ethan's face seemed to show a deep sorrow, and his voice came in whispers.

"You're right Ella. This, this is crossing the line. I promised you I wouldn't let this job, this place change me, but I, I'm sorry. The things I saw, the things I had to do, it, it was just too much. Dad was a cop you know. We, we were living in a bad neighborhood then. He always fought to clean it up, make everyone's lives better. And he always put us before his job, and his duty before himself. I might as well have spit on his grave with this."

Ethan's hands shook as he put the gun onto the desk behind him, and with the press of a button on the desk's paneling, the doors slid open with a hiss. Ethan dropped to his knees, hands overhead, as he soldiers, guns trained on him, slowly entered the room, followed by a solemn faced Jake, and a silently crying Ella.

Jake looked at him with well disguised pity.

"Put him in a holding cell boys. We'll figure all this out later."

Ethan made not move or noise as the cuffs were slapped onto his hands, and, upon rising to his feet, marched silently down the halls, flanked by the guards, making sure not to look Ella in the eye. He didn't think he even could if he wanted to.

**End Chapter. Well, there you have it. Easy tests next day = Free time = Bored Author = New Chapter. As always, I love to see and hear your feedback. On a quick side note, I am rapidly running out of the planned plot I had for this story, so if you got any ideas you want to share, lay them on me. I'm open to suggestions here. Stay tuned.**


	16. Confinement and Confidence

**Disclaimer: Unless James Cameron wills it away to me at his death (get on that JC), I will probably never own the movie Aavatar (probably being the key word there). Well until my various schemes to get the rights to it work, I will content myself with my own story and characters. Ok people, last chapter, Ethan was stopped from brutally murdering Parker Selfridge as revenge. He was locked away in a holding cell until judgment was passed on him. Shall we take a look in on him?**

The holding cells of Hell's Gate were a simple affair. Rectangular rooms, three walls solid concrete with steel beneath it, the same for the floor, and one wall of the same clear polymer used in the Ops Center, they were nigh impenetrable. They were devoid of any furnishings save the cold metal cots and the toilet and sink off in a corner. Ethan Gregor sat on the edge of a cot, hunched over, head in his hands, as the time slipped by. He was alone, utterly and completely, for there was no one, not even the guard at the check in desk in the area. The clock on the wall told him it had been near two hours since he had been dumped in here by Sulley and his own men. He looked up and dighed, but immediately averted his gaze upon catching his reflection in the clear, glass-like wall. Sudden footsteps roused his attention again however, and he looked up. Sulley, though not his Avatar, Trudy, and Norm were all walking towards his cell, a different expression painted on each face.

Jake's was somber, though a grim determination was quite visible in it. Trudy was characterized with worry, and a bit of pity. And Norm, Ethan glanced at him briefly. The scientist was quite clearly trying, and failing, to keep his face devoid of emotion, though there was a decent bit of fear working its way through.

"I assume you all have come to sentence me."

Ethan didn't even look up when he spoke, still staring a hole into the same spot in the floor.

Jake's voice answered first.

"Ethan, we just wanted to talk to you. Trudy and Norm flew in from the station in the mountains. We want to help."

He answered with silence, though the voice continued.

"Ethan, I know how you feel on this but..."

He was cut off as in one fluid motion Ethan sprang from the bed and reached the clear wall, staring with fury at Jake.

"You think you know how I feel Sulley? You don't have a clue as to how badly I wanted to ...."

This time it was Jake's turn to cut him off. His voice was tense, anger seeping into it.

"You think you're the only one who lost something to Quaritch and Selfridge? Those bastards burnt down the Hometree! Sure I wanted to make him pay for it, but if we resort to mindless killing then we're no better than he is!"

Ethan was silent, not by choice but from surprise. Jake continued, anger dying down.

"Look. The RDA are getting loaded up to head back to the Venture Star. We got about forty or so people that are staying here. They're going to need a leader Ethan, someone they know and trust. They're going to need you."

The soldier was silent, and turned his back to his visitors, starting to pace around the cell.

"Sulley, there are a boatload of problems that would have to be dealt with for us to live here, you know that right?"

Jake nodded.

"I know. Some of the research staff have ideas to deal with a few, and the Omaticaya are fine with having more Avatars come and learn the ways of Eywa. But there are still a mountain of problems that we need a man like you to help solve."

"Sulley, I'm a soldier. You got the wrong man."

Trudy interrupted.

"No he doesn't Ethan. You care about the people under your command, you're determined, and you got one thing Quaritch and Selfridge didn't."

Ethan looked at her, face much softer than the rage he had glared at Jake with, but it's remnants were still visible.

"And what would that be Trudy?"

"A conscience."

Ethan was silent, his mind racing as that statement settled in.

"You still want my help," he questioned, voice soft, "even after that?"

Jake nodded.

"You're the man we need Ethan. Selfridge will get what's coming to him back on Earth, what with the fall out this'll have. Ethan, these people are going to look to you for leadership. They know you can give it. Question is, will you?"

Ethan looked down once more, before sighing heavily and looking back through the wall.

"Fine. Come back and let me out when the piece of human trash is back in orbit. I, I got some things I need to work out."

Jake gave him and understanding nod before turning to wheel himself out. Norm followed, giving the grizzled soldier a look of contemplation. Only Trudy remained. She stood, silent, as Ethan returned to the hunched position they had found him in. For what seemed an eternity, neither spoke, Trudy stared at him, mournfully, while Ethan stared at the ground. Finally, he spoke, his voice a low rasp.

"Thank you Trudy. I, I know you're the one who sent them after me. Thank you."

For a rare moment, the wise cracking, feisty pilot found herself speechless, caught off guard by Ethan's thanks. Ethan kept talking.

"You helped stop me from doing something that'd haunt me. Revenge has just been eating me up ever since, ever since that, massacre. I had finally buried it away, but then, you and Sulley gave me this opportunity to take it. If I had done that, it would've just made me even more hollow and bitter than I am already."

Trudy finally found her words. She pulled a chair over to Ethan's cell, sat down, and looked him in the eye.

"Gregor, you're a lot of things, but hollow and bitter aren't on that list. Sadistic maybe, considering that whole cigarette lighter thing, but not bitter, and man with the kind of passion you have can't be hollow. You're a good man Ethan."

The soldier glared at her, a small smile eventually creeping across his face as he shook his head.

"You aren't going soft on me now are you Trudy?"

The pilot blushed, but gave him a smirk.

"We'll be back for you soon Ethan. Work out what you need to, cuz' we're going to need you."

With that, she turned, slid the chair back to its original space, and strode purposefully out of the cell area.

Ethan watched her until she rounded the bend and left his field of vision, a small smile the entire time, before fading as he looked inwardly to face his own demons.

** End Chapter. Alright people, please keep up the reviews and feedback. Also, I would like to restated my previous request for story suggestions, but please keep them within the Avatar world. I have nothing against crossovers, but I want to keep this purely Avatar. But enough of my blabbering. You guys have been great with feedback on both counts, and knowing people are reading is a real motivator to keep writing. Until next time.**


	17. Genesis and Exodus

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters and this little story. James Cameron and a gaggle of movie studios own Avatar. I, sadly, do not. Oh well, a guy can dream. Well last chapter left off with Ethan cooling down in a cell after almost killing Parker Selfridge, deciding to stay to help lead the remaining humans, and starting to open up with Trudy. Jake has mentioned several of the remaining researchers having projects that could help, the RDA men are getting shipped back to Earth. What repercussions will Ethan's actions have? What will these mysterious projects yield? Did I already do this kind of thing for a chapter intro? Oh well, just read on.**

Jake and Norm headed slowly down the halls of Hell's Gate, but the lanky scientist was surprised when the Marine suddenly turned down the passage to the Link Center.

"Jake, what are you doing?"

His voice seemed to echo within the empty metal halls. The crippled Marine turned and looked at him, face somber.

"Video log. Grace would've wanted me to get all this down while it was fresh."

Norm nodded slowly, understanding and grim.

"Take your time. We got about an hour before the carrier will be ready for takeoff."

Jake nodded in acknowledgment and wheeled himself down the hall wordlessly. Norm turned in the other direction, having matters of his own to attend to. Ethan and Jake were military men, leaders, but he was a scientist, a researcher. Math and science were his domain, not guns and violence. And who better to oversee scientists than a scientist?

There were a number of other labs at Hell's Gate aside from the Avatar program, and Norm directed himself to the Bio Labs, where a dozen researchers of various fields were already assembled. Norm took a deep breath before beginning, voice booming.

"Ok people. We are here because we have been tasked with coming up with programs and technologies to help make living here easier. I want each team to present any relevant ongoing projects first, the general gist of it in laymen's terms first so I can jot it down and then technical details. After that, we'll take stock of what we've got and move from there. Biology team, you're up first."

As he finished speaking, two people stood up from the group, all of whom were clad in the typical white lab coat. There was an older man with tan leathery skin, his white hair giving an even greater contrast against his darker skin, who rose to his feet with the aid of a cane as well as a young blonde woman, mid twenties at oldest. The older man spoke first.

"Bout' time you got here Norm. I was about ready to start without you."

The blonde brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. For a man of nearly seventy, Dr. Leroy Breen had plenty of fire left in him. Norm was not offended, used to the man's impatience, and looked at him expectantly.

"Alright then, what've you got?"

Braun paused a moment to readjust his grip on his cane before starting.

"To put it simply, we've developed a way to help the human body process the toxins found in Pandoran game and produce, which would allow for the consumption of local foodstuffs."

A assembled scientists nodded approvingly, and Braun straightened up, practically glowing with pride. Norm merely jotted down 'Food' onto a notepad, before looking back up at the two man biology team.

"Details?"

Braun frowned ever so slightly at this.

"I believe Cindy here can help you with that. If you would be so kind?"

He looked expectantly at the blonde, who gave a slight gasp of surprise before stepping forward.

"Oh, right. Well, as many of you know, the human digestive system contains large populations of beneficial bacteria which help to break down any compounds that would be otherwise impossible to digest. It is a symbiotic relationship and the bacteria are actually required for healthy digestion. Now, through study, we've found that the Na'vi physiology and bodily systems do not differ in this regard. They too use microorganisms to aide in digestion. We've isolated a couple of these organisms, and preliminary tests suggest that if added to the human intestinal system, they would function just as they do in Na'vi systems, and would pose no problems to the bacteria already residing there. We'll need more testing, but we're pretty optimistic on this one."

She gave a smile and, with her teammate, took a seat. There was a brief round of curt applause. Norm glanced down at his notepad.

"Next!"

* * *

Jake's Avatar walked out onto the tarmac, gun in hand, as were all the mutineer Avatars who were fit to fight, as the last of the RDA loyalists were loaded onto the carrier. The massive ship, the same class of cruiser that Quaritch had intended to use to blow up the Tree of Souls, revved its thrusters once everyone was clear, and with a roar of engines took off, flying over that base, and blasting through the column of smoke that still rose from the smoldering blazes of the factories. Once the dust cleared, there was a moment of silence, followed by a roar of cheers, applause, and whooping war calls from the assembled Na'vi warriors. Shots were fired off in celebration, there were embraces and tears of joy. Jake stood by, silent, contemplating all he had wrought. He sighed, knowing there'd be time for that later. But for now, he saw his mate coming towards him, and knew it was time for celebration.

* * *

A few hours later, Jake was seated in the dining hall with the mutineers, the Na'vi having return to the Tree of Souls, Neytiri only leaving after he promised to return by dawn. He sighed contently as he sipped his drink, a chilled beer straight from Quaritch's own private stock, with Norm and Max, Trudy and Ethan mysteriously absent.

As if voicing the unsaid opinion of the entire table, Jake began to speculate on their missing companions' location, his lip loosened slightly by drink.

"It doesn't take half an hour to go to the holding cells. And it doesn't take a genius to guess what those two would be up to."

Max shook his head, the last effects of his earlier destructive binge finally fading.

"Nah, I don't think so. Ethan's not the type. He's deliberate and calculating. I mean you all saw him ,he can be as cold as ice sometimes. But then again, Trudy can be pretty-hic-pretty damn aggressive."

They all nodded at this in agreement, and Jake noticed a sudden tapping on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the nervous face of Ella Gregor.

"You're Ethan's sister Ella right?"

The young dark haired woman nodded in confirmation.

"Uh yah. I had a question for you if you weren't too busy."

Jake glanced idly at his drink.

"I think I have the time. What's the matter?"

Ella blushed ever so slightly.

"Oh nothing's wrong, it's just, I was wondering who that hunter you put in charge of watching us back at the warehouse was, that's all."

Jake raised a brow at this.

"Uh his name is Tsu'tey. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, he just, just talked to me after the battle. I was interested is all. Uh thanks."

She hurried away from the table, face red, and Jake turned to his companions.

"She has a thing for him."

Max and Norm answered in unison.

"Definitely"

"Absolutely"

It was then that the familiar voice of a hardened soldier joined the conversation.

"Who has a thing for who?"

The three turned at the same time to see Ethan Gregor stalk into the dining hall, all eyes momentarily on him before reverting back to their own affairs. Few knew of his incident with Selfridge, and he wanted to keep it that way. Ethan walked over to the table with Trudy, and pulled her over a seat before taking his own. The pilot blushed momentarily at this, and the original three men returned the gaze to Ethan, neither daring to say a word. Finally, Norm came to his senses.

"Oh nothing, just some of the researchers is all. I had them all report on their projects today and, well let's just say there were more than a few kinds of chemistry going on there."

There were a few small laughs and smiles at this, though more alcohol induced than humor. Max and Jake both looked back at Norm, relief and thanks spread across their faces. No one wanted to deliver the news to the overprotective brother that his little sister was potentially involved with a Na'vi warrior. It just wouldn't end well. All three gave a collective sigh of relief when Ethan picked up on that line of conversation.

"Anything good? We're going to have our work cut out for us here."

Norm nodded.

"A few. For starters, the bio and genetics team may have was for people to deal with the toxins here."

Everyone was intrigued by this, and looked at Norm expectantly.

"Ok well turns out RDA had teams looking into genetic engineering to try and allow people to freely breathe the Pandoran atmosphere. Now the genetics team has a project going that'll only need a few more months time. They've been engineering a benign virus to modify the alveoli of the lungs to block out toxins in addition to continued gas exchange."

There was a flicker of recognition across Max's face, but otherwise silence reigned supreme. Trudy spoke for everyone assembled.

"English please?

Norm sighed.

"They plan on modifying the lungs genetically so people can filter out the toxins and use the oxygen."

He sounded dejected and hurt, but Trudy was relentless.

"We don't all speak geek. Keep it simple Einstein."

Norm sighed and continued.

"Fine. You know it wouldn't kill you guys to read a little bit every now and then, but whatever. We got a pretty promising program for digesting local Pandoran food, a couple ideas to try for keeping this base free of jungles encroachment that don't involve toxic waste, and then there was a really long coffee break the meeting never really recovered from."

There were nods of approval from around the table, and Ethan turned to Jake.

"Sounds good. Sulley, you said that the Na'vi would be willing to take on the rest of the Avatars like they did for you?"

Jake nodded.

"Yah. They come into it with an open mind, it'll take maybe three months tops. Plus, a lot of that time will be helping the Omaticaya rebuild. That'll really help gain their trust."

Ethan nodded, before taking a long swig from Norm's drink, while the scientist looked on with unspoken outrage, before replacing it as if nothing had happened.

"Alright then. Sounds like we have a plan then. This base is equipped with enough supplies to last a couple hundred people up to six years. The forty of us, minus the Avatar drivers, won't even put a dent in that by the time all that pans out."

He stole Norm's drink once again, raising it in toast.

"Gentlemen," he began, before turning to Trudy and adding, "and lady," Ethan held the glass high. "To new beginnings and second chances."

**End Chapter. Alright people, please keep up the reviews. I love hearing what you guys have to say. Also, anonymous reviews should be enabled now, not really sure why they weren't in the first place, so if you prefer to judge my writing while staying incognito, you can now do so. A side note to that, I am fine with criticism, as long as it's the constructive kind. If you don't like something, suggest how you think I could do it better. But for God's sake don't just type out how the story is trash etc. I've dealt with that kind of reviewer before, and they're no fun. You guys are why this story is still going, so please keep up with the critiques. Jschneids, signing off.**


	18. New Dawn

**Disclaimer: Avatar belongs to JC and a bunch of movie studios, not, sadly, to this humble author. Now last chapter saw the mass exodus of the RDA from Pandora, and plans for the future by the remaining humans. Meanwhile, a small romance is beginning to bud between Ella and Tsu'tey, all underneath the nose of Ella's fiercely protective brother. A new day is dawning on Pandora. Let's see how things turn out.**

The executives' quarters were far superior to the barracks, and it was in these commandeered rooms that most of the mutineers awoke. Pale morning light poured in through windows, mostly drowning out the silhouette of the great gas giant Pandora orbited with their glare. Ethan Gregor sat in a arm chair looking out through a window as Pandora's "Sun" crested the sky. He sipped lightly from his shot glass, a hit of whiskey to start the day. He figured he would need it. Today was the day he was put in charge of every remaining human on Pandora.

* * *

A few hours later, the forty or so mutineers were all assembled in the dining hall, Trudy and Norm included, Jake having departed last night. Ethan hoisted himself atop a table, and waited until the dull roar of the breakfast conversations subsided and attention turned to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are standing on the edge of a new day for humanity on Pandora. Now I know every single one of you is here for different reasons, but the fact you chose to stay tells me we all have something in common; we had no home waiting back on Earth for us. So we will make ourselves a new one. "

The occupants of the hall were in rapt attention to him, the room silent between his words.

"I'm not going to lie to you. It will be difficult, and it will take blood, sweat, and tears to carve out a place of our own, but in the end it will be worth ten times the amount of effort you put into it. You are building a home for yourself, for your friends. You all knew the risks when you sided with us, and I ask you to side with me again. We will act as a single unit, a single people, and turn this base, with all its dark history, into a place we can be proud to call home!"

He ended the abrupt speech as quickly as he had begun it, and for a moment there was nothing but silence, like a heavy fog hanging over the crowd. Then, slowly at first, it began to clear. There was a single clap of hands, followed by another, and another, until the whole room was in uproar with applause. Ethan waited for it to die down before addressing the group once more.

"Thank you. All of you. Now once everyone is done, we're going to divide up into groups to address specific problems. Until then, eat up, enjoy yourselves! You've all earned it."

With that, Ethan dismounted the table with a quick hop, and the roar of countless conversations resumed. He sat down at a table with Max, Norm, and Trudy, receiving a few pats on the back and small applauses along the way. Finally, he slumped into the seat next to Trudy.

"I hate public speaking."

The rest of the table's occupants laughed, and Max raised his glass, an orange juice substitute, or so it was supposed to be, this time instead of liquor, to Ethan.

"Well you've got a knack for it, and you are the _de facto_ leader here, so expect a lot more of it coming."

There was another round of laughter, but Ethan only grunted.

Trudy gave him a joking, but reassuring punch on the arm.

"Relax Gregor, we can help take some of the strain off ya', right boys?"

She looked at Norm and Max expectantly, wearing the kind of look that spoke in volumes. It was saying she wasn't going to take no for an answer, and the other men were quick to respond.

"Duh, yah, sure, no problem."

"Uh, of course."

Ethan nodded, sipping idly at the cup of knock off coffee he'd grabbed. The journey from Earth was a long one, and foodstuffs had to be ridiculously long lasting to make it. Hence so many chemical fakes. He turned back to his companions once the gulp of bitter black sludge had descended down his throat, and held his tongue for a moment of thought before speaking.

"Norm, I want you to continue with the science stuff, you're better versed in it than anyone else here. Trudy, I need you to take stock of our military assets, number of pilots, gunships, AMP's, that kind of crap. Until we can get some kind of perimeter back up I don't want us to be unprepared if you beastie decides to stop here for lunch. And Max, get me some of those math geeks. I want and inventory of all other supplies, and estimates for how long they'll last. Oh, and find out which drivers are going to the Na'vi, and get them linked up and ready to go. Also, somebody get me a beer. This stuff tastes like shit, and it kind of looks like it too."

* * *

An hour or so later. six young men and women were assembled in the Link Center, one Ella Gregor among them. Max had settled into his chair and was assigning everyone to their pods when he stopped rattling off orders suddenly. He had seen the last name on the list. Everyone else was working their way into their pods. Max got up and walked over to the obviously nervous Ella, wearing the very same sweatshirt ensemble she had shown up in the first times.

"Ella, you know your brother isn't going to like this. The whole goal of this is to join the Na'vi tribe."

Ella nodded, somber.

"I know, and I want to do this. Ethan means well, he can just be a bit, well smothering I guess. He doesn't think I can take care of myself, doesn't want to let me go."

Max put a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

"You're the only family he's got left. He's going to be clingy and overprotective. That's what older brothers do."

Ella shook her head.

"I know, believe me I know. It's just, knowing him, if he doesn't like me doing something, he'll come down like the wrath of God to try and stop it. And I really want this."

Max nodded slightly, in sympathy.

"Every now and then you have to take a stand for yourself, back up your own decisions. now let's get moving. I think there's a certain Na'vi hunter you're quite anxious to set up contact with."

Max grinned wickedly and Ella could only blush as she worked her way to the pod.

**End Chapter. Well there you go. Kind of boring and a bit short I know, but the previous action has died down a bit, so any new stuff will need adequate buildup. That and the fact that school has me pinned down like a professional wrestler. But oh well. Please keep up the reviews and feedback. Updates will come as soon as possible.**


	19. Icy Reception

**Disclaimer: I own Avatar...... I wish. It all belongs to JC and movie people, except for my characters and this story of course. Alright then, RDA is out, and Ethan is leading the humans who stayed. What's next for our heroes? Read on.**

Ella and the half dozen or so other drivers who were also going to the Na'vi loaded up onto a gunship, piloted by none other than Trudy Chacone. Ella smiled at her as she boarded, but couldn't help eyeing up the pilot suspiciously. Rumors were flying about her and Ethan. Whether or not they had any substance to them was another matter. Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, she strapped in along with the other Avatars and watched as the base slowly shrank beneath them as they gained altitude. Much of Hell's Gate, save for the labs and living quarters, were burnt out ruins, shells of buildings with twisted steel skeletons, shattered floors and pipes, and complex machinery reduced to mere slag. She swallowed hard, quelling the tide of guilt and remorse welling up inside, and instead turned her attention to the forests. The perimeter of the compound, while still blackened and near desolate from the constant acid bath it had been receiving for years, already had a few small animals and flecks of green in it, a testament to just how hardy the life of the Pandoran jungle was.

Soon Hell's Gate was a grey speck on the horizon, and the Hallelujah Mountains came into view, great the great floating stones carpeted with plant life, though many of them, as well as the valley floor below, bore the marks of battle. Crashed gunships and bled out ikran shared the forest floor, grim reminders of the violence of yesterday. Soon, their destination came into view. The Tree of Souls.

Its branches hung down like those of a weeping willows, but the massive tree had faintly glowing tendrils in place of leaves. The entire bowl like caldera the tree sat in was filled to the brim with Na'vi. Once the gunship came into view, a legion of alien eyes was upon, watching, waiting, and distrustful. Ella swallowed hard, entirely surprised that they hadn't been attacked yet. Trudy gently brought the ship down onto a rocky outcropping on the edge of the stone bowl, and the second the engines stopped, they were surrounded by a few hundred Na'vi, bows drawn and ready to fire.

The silence was tense, and every time one of the human entourage tried to move, the arrows were pointed their way, the archers' eyes hard.

Ella heaved a sigh of relief as Jake bounded over to the gunship, stepping in front of the crowd of archers, who seemed to relax, and lower their weapons. The Avatar drivers stepped tentatively out of the gunship, and Jake turned to address them.

"Uh sorry about that. You can understand that their mistrustful of gunships. Now here's how this is going to work. You will be paired with a Na'vi guide from the Omaticaya. The other clans are actually getting ready to go back to their homes as we speak. I'm going to tell this to you now, you have to be prepared to learn a new way of thinking, to give up your old one. If you don't enter this with an open mind, you'll get nowhere. Now, you'll be spending as much time as possible every day with your guide. The Avatar bodies will remain here whenever not in use. If you're guide deems you ready, you can be accepted into the People. Now if you'll head over to the base of the Tree, the hunters who volunteered as guides are waiting. I'll be over in a minute."

Jake pointed over to the Tree of Souls, and a path through the crowd formed as the gathered Na'vi parted, still vigilantly watching, though a bit less coldly than before. Once the Avatars started walking over, Jake headed over to the cock pit and lightly rapped on it. Trudy looked up with a jolt, though smiled at the sight of her friend. Jake held up three fingers, and, understanding, trudy quickly changed the frequency of her radio, letting the two talk.

"Jake, you still owe me a new Samson. This bird's ok, but it's nothing compared to my baby. "

A mournful look crossed her face, and Jake was quick to move on.

"Why don't you just ask Ethan? I'm sure he'll let you at the military warehouses."

Trudy blushed a bit.

"Ah I'll get around to it. He's got a lot on his plate as it is."

Trudy suddenly frowned, holding her earpiece close and nodding.

"Alright," she siad, though visibly not to Jake.

"Hey Jake, Max wants to talk to you, he's switchin' to our channel."

Max's voice emerged from the radio with a burst of static.

"Hey Jake, what link pod are you using? I thought all the ones at the lab station were trashed."

Jake smiled. He hadn't planned on telling the people back at the base just yet, but it was a s good a time as any.

"Yah Max, I won't be needing a link pod anytime soon."

The Marine could just picture Max's face. The scientist would be raising an eyebrow at his statement.

"What do you mean Jake? Where's your real body?"

Jake grinned.

"Max, this is my body now. The Tree switched my mind from my human body to this one. Permanently."

He could just see Max's jaw drop.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. You're saying a _tree_ did what me, Grace, and a room full of supercomputers couldn't? The Holy Grail of neurological transfer was solved by a shrub. Is that what you're telling me?"

Jake just kept smiling, and Trudy looked on, dumbstruck, before speaking up.

"How the hell did that work? Did everyone get in a big circle and sing Kumbayah or something while that bush worked its magic? This whole planet is crazy."

Jake looked off into the distance absently for a moment, as if in thought, before returning his attention to Trudy.

"Uh something like that. Thanks for bringing them Trudy. I'll keep you guys posted on how we move. The clan's starting to look for a new Hometree, but some of the more travelled hunters think there might be an available one in the area."

Trudy nodded, but Jake could have sworn he heard something along the lines of "crazy ass tree hugging Smurfs under her breath". He shook his head dismissing it.

"Alright, well I got to get these guys set up before some nervous hunter puts an arrow through them. I'll see ya' Trudy."

The pilot gave him smirk before revving the engines.

"Be careful Jake. Ella gets so much as a scratch on her, and Ethan will be after you and her guide with a vengeance, and probably some big guns and a flamethrower."

Jake nodded as she the gunships slowly took off, flying out of view, before he muttered under his breath, "That's what I'm worried about."

**End Chapter. Sorry, long time no update. Been a bit busy. Please keep up the feedback.**


	20. Try, Try Again

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own stuff. Seriously, if you don't know that by now that's just sad. Alright, sorry about the long gap, but what can I say, stuff happens. When we last left off, Ella and the other Avatar drivers were going to be assigned their guides, and Max and friends back at Hell's Gate had just been informed of Jake's body swap. But enough from me, have at it.**

Ella could feel the weight of thousands or mistrusting cat-like eyes upon her as she climbed the terrace like stone to the Tree's base, the other apprehensive drivers following close behind. Waiting there was a group of older Na'vi, Whom Ella could only assume to be elders of chiefs, as well as a group of hunters who, unlike the cold distrust their fellows exuded, showed a trace of curiosity in their eyes.

The thick tension in the air was finally broken when Jake jogged up to the front of the group and clapped his hands together.

"Alright everyone," he began, voice seeming to echo throughout the bowl like valley, "please listen to me."

A silence fell over the assembled Na'vi as the Toruk-Makto spoke.

"We lost many of our brothers and sisters in the battle with the Sky People, and I know why you are quick to judge, but these people are not your enemies. They helped to fight for us, to save out lands, and now they come to us to learn. I ask you to give them the same chance given to me, the chance to learn, to watch, to come to know Eywa. All I ask, is that you give them a chance. Thank you."

The chiefs and elders behind him had been translating the whole speech, and finished second or so after him. There were murmurings from the crowd as he stepped down and back amongst the group of nervous Avatar drivers. He looked at the assembled and gave a slight nod.

"I'll tell you what, you guys have more guts than I'll ever, coming here and doing this by your own choice. Fate kind of forced me along and it was hard enough that way. You all have my respect. "

He kept his voice low to avoid prying ears and eyes, but quickly turned and gestured towards the volunteering hunters, who were all eyeing them inquisitively.

"All of them over there are Omaticaya hunters who volunteered to do this. They wanted to learn about humans, and were willing to teach about the Na'vi. All of them are pretty fluent in English, so the language barrier should be minimized. Go over, talk to them, get to know them. Try and find someone who you, fit with. This is going to be a long term relationship and," Jake paused to give a sly little smirk towards Neytiri, who was walking with intent towards him, "well just be careful who you pick."

With that, he left them, and went off to join his mate. Ella shook her head as the two left them.

"Well can't imagine what those two are heading off to do," she muttered, voice dripping in sarcasm.

Jake's departure had left the driver alone with the guides, and Ella quickly began scanning the faces of the assembled Na'vi. They were all, or at least appeared to be, young men and women, all seemingly eager, if not anxious in equal parts however. They were rarities amongst their kind to not have the first instinct to pepper the drivers with arrows.

Ella's expression lit up when she spotted a familiar face amongst them, and, seeing her companions' lack of initiative, she chose to take the first step. She strode purposefully up to the tall figure on the ridge, the hunter and warrior Tsu'tey.

* * *

"Well, how is it?"

Ethan paused in contemplation for a moment.

"Well, it tastes like shit, but my lips aren't bleeding this time so I guess that's an improvement."

There were cheers and high fives all around at this report as the research team celebrated the first completely successful trial of what had been dubbed their "Digestion Adapter". While none of the previous human trials had been truly dangerous or life threatening, they had all yielded nasty side effects ranging from projectile vomiting, hallucinations, and temporary color blindness. But those had all passed, and now Ethan could proudly say he could now eat the produce of Pandora.

"If only this stuff didn't taste like the ass end of a mangy dog. You guys got anything besides alien Bambi?" he asked pointedly, gesturing to the plate of gamey meat.

There was a round of laughs and the taste testing continued.

* * *

It had been a month since the Battle of Hell's Gate, and as Ethan walked out of the lab, desperate to find a shot of Jack Daniel's to wash away rancid tastes from his mouth, he was joined by Trudy.

"You have experience with the ass ends of mangy dogs then?"

Ethan raised a brow to her and smiled.

"Well there was this one time in college..."

His voice trailed off with a flourish, and Trudy laughed as they walked. She suddenly paused and halted from their walk, and curious, Ethan followed suit.

"Trudy, what's wrong?"

"Why are you doing this Ethan, putting your life on the line with being a guinea pig for these doctors?"

Her voice was quiet.

He gave her a small smile.

"Because I'm a soldier, and if there's no fighting going on I need something meaningful to do or I'll go crazy. Being these guys' lab rat will help everyone in the long run."

Trudy shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Just, be careful alright? We still need you here."

"Don't worry, I'm planning on sticking around for a long time."

Ethan laughed, and Trudy gave a small smile before walking off, desperately trying to hide her blushing face. Blissfully ignorant of this, Ethan continued onto the Link Center.

He reached the main doors, noting the small memorial that had been erected there, before entering. The room was a flurry of activity. The link pods were opening with low pressurized hisses, and the tired drivers were all exiting. Ethan grinned as he saw his sister hopping out of one, and headed over to intercept her before she melded back into the group of excited drivers.

"Ella."

"Oh hey there bro, what's up?"

Ethan gave a small smile.

"Just checking up on everyone. Everything going alright with our big blue friends?"

Ella blushed ever so slightly, and Ethan took note.

"Good. Real good. We found a new Hometree to move into. Everyone's been pitching in to set things up, learn the new lay of the land. It's still actually not too far from here. "

Ethan nodded.

"Sounds good then. I'll see you later."

As her brother turned to leave, Ella's heart started racing. It was now or never.

"Uh Ethan."

Her brother turned around to face her. They were now alone in the room, everyone else, Max included having gone off for dinner.

"Yah? What's wrong."

"Uh nothing. I, I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Well, I'm listening."

Ella swallowed hard.

"Uh, you know how Jake was permanently transferred to his Na'vi body?"

Ethan's face darkened a bit, afraid of the conversation's destination.

"Go on."

"Well, uh, the Omaticaya have offered to do the same for any of the other drivers accepted into the clan."

Ethan was silent for a moment, before speaking softly.

"And you're thinking of doing this I take it?"

Ella just nodded. Ethan sighed, and rubbed his temples. Silence followed

"Go ahead then."

The raspy whisper that escaped his lips shocked her, and she stared at him, mouth agape.

"Ella, I'm your brother, not your babysitter. Go, do what you want. But just remember this shit is permanent, so, so," he paused, shaking his head, "ah to hell with it, I need a drink."

He stormed out of the room in a fashion only rugged veteran could, leaving his sister, confused in his wake.

**End Chapter.** **First and fore mostly, I would like to apologize to everyone for the delay in the update. I'm afraid life can get in the way of fiction sometimes. Please keep up the reviews, and I promise to pick up the pace on new chapters.**


	21. I Drink Alone

**Disclaimer: If you haven't been reading these for the past nearly 20 chapters (and let's be honest, how many will admit they actually pay attention to theses?), then know that I own nothing but my own characters. Now let's see, we left off right after Ella informed Ethan of her intention to fully become a Na'vi like Jake did, and he was less than pleased to say the least. Let's see what's going on now, shall we?**

"Ethan? Ethan? Damn it Ethan I know you're in here, answer me!"

Trudy paced the halls of the now abandoned barracks briskly, looking in at every bunk until she found her mark. Ethan sat on his bunk, hunched, a flask of what she could only assume to be his favorite whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other.

"How'd you know I was here?"

His voice was slurred and the alcohol carried on his breath. Trudy could tell he was far from sober. She sat down next to him and quickly plucked the cigar from his hand, snuffing it out against the metal framework of the bunk and tossing it aside.

"Getting hooked onto something that won't be available here is not a good idea. And you always go to the most out of the way, least populated place to mope."

She glared at him, eyes hard, but there was a glimmer of sympathy in them. Ethan scowled.

"Am I getting that predictable?"

Trudy smirked at him.

"Afraid so. Now put down the damn bottle. It won't help these people's confidence to see their fearless leader flat out drunk and halfway to tears. C'mon."

She tugged at his now cigar-less hand, only for him to pull it away.

"No I think I'll stay here until my liver gives out. Or is it your kidney that does that shit? Either way, I'm staying here."

Trudy gave an exasperated sigh before looking him in the eye. She didn't like what she saw. Heavy bags hung under the usually fierce eyes, and it seemed as if he'd aged ten years. She decided to try a gentler approach, and softened her tone.

"Ethan, I talked to Ella. I realize how you're felling but you have to realize that..."

He cut her off with a smoldering stare before talking.

"You have no idea. No idea. I'm losing the only family I got left, and not because I couldn't protect like I swore to, not because I faltered, but because she's choosing to leave me. Goddamn salt in the wound is that she's picking some overgrown Smurfs and their magic tree over me. Should've blown 'em all away."

He moved to take a sip from the flask, but Trudy snatched that away too, popping the cap back on it and then tossing that too away.

"Stop it Ethan, you know you don't mean that."

He gave her a nasty smile, but it quickly faded.

"Drunken words are sober thoughts"

Trudy glared at him, then shook her head.

"Ethan, why are you doing this to yourself? Ella isn't abandoning you, she's choosing to explore, to go out and learn. You can't always be there to protect her."

Ethan snarled at her.

"Watch me. I swore on my parent's grave I'd keep her safe and until death takes me I will!"

There was silence for a long times, interrupted only by Ethan's heavy breathing . Then, he spoke in a raping whisper, a far cry from the previous roar.

"She's all I got Trudy. It was all set up on Earth. Safe part of town, steady job; she would be set. But instead she wanted adventure, decided to follow big brother out to this hell hole. And now, I, God I just don't know."

His head fell into his hands and Trudy could feel and see his sorrow. She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Ethan, you're not thinking straight. You've had way too much to drink. You can still see her, Jake said the new tree they're going to move into is even closer than the old one. If you just sober up than you'll be able to..."

Ethan threw her hand off his shoulder.

"No Trudy I am thinking straighter than I have in a long, long time. And you know what? This whole planet is shit. I traded a steel and concrete hell for a leafy green one."

Trudy did her best to curb her temper, but Ethan was really starting to grate on her.

"You chose to stay here Ethan. You chose, and you acted on it. If you don't like it, there's no one to blame but yourself."

Ethan rose from the bunk and stumbled over to where his flask had landed before retrieving it, leaning against the wall, and taking a hefty swig.

"Don't you think I know that? I made a deal with the devil and got sucked down to hell. I fell down the rabbit hole and can't get back out. And I trapped my sister here with me."

His voice was bitter, miserable, but his displays were rapidly burning through Trudy's patience and sympathy. The fiery pilot was getting riled up.

"Cut it out Ethan. You can either sit here in your little pity party or grow a pair and face you problems. "

"I take it the second option involves less alcohol?"

Trudy managed to spit out a reply through clenched teeth.

"Yes, yes it does."

Ethan shrugged.

"I think I'll stick with this plan then. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a pity party to throw."

Trudy could hardly believe things were going this way. She stood up and stomped over to where the heavily liquored up soldier was standing, or leaning rather, and stood toe to toe with him.

"You know I really thought you were above this Ethan. You talked Max out of drinking himself to death, and now look at you. I'm sure your parents are real proud."

Trudy realized her mistake almost instantly, and quickly back pedaled.

"I, Ethan I didn't mean that, it, I just..."

He didn't let her finish.

"Get out," he growled, his voice seething with pent up rage.

"Ethan I'm.."

"Get out!"

Silence followed, and Trudy turned tail and headed for the door, a small tear snaking down the side of her face.

**End Chapter. Please review etc. It is at this point dear readers I must regret to inform you that our little tale of revenge, love, and oversized weaponry is rapidly approaching its finale. Please stay tuned.**


	22. Man in the Mirror

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters, story, etc. James Cameron and other movie people own Avatar. When we last left off, Ethan was drinking himself to death , hating life and getting in violent arguments with a certain pilot. All this was started off by Ella's decision to go the way of Jake and join the Na'vi. How will things work out? Let's see....**

Trudy slumped into the chair at the small circular table, as Norm and Max looked on anxiously.

The pilot sighed.

"It's no use. You can smell it on him a mile away, and its damn near impossible to hold a conversation with him."

Max's brows furrowed.

"Well, did you get anything out of him?"

"A bad mood and a migraine, but aside from that not much," her face fell, "hell if anything I probably put him in a worse state then he was already in."

Norm was curious.

"How'd you manage that?"

"I, I brought up his parents."

There was a collective groan from the men. Max swore softly.

"Damn. You know how that makes him. Last guy who dragged his dad into a conversation got a broken nose and a concussion."

Trudy' face darkened and her brows furrowed.

"Ok, I know. I screwed up. You two bitching about it won't change a thing though."

Norm spoke up, though tentatively.

"Well, what now?"

Trudy's anger faded, if only briefly.

"We stay the course," she said, sighing. "Keep the research on track, keep the Avatars progressing. I think we can hold this place together at least until Ethan calms down. But have someone guarding the liquor cabinet for the next few days, will ya?"

* * *

The whole barracks smelt heavily of whiskey and sweat, and slumped on the very same cot Trudy had left him by, Ethan laid, desperate for an escape, but slowly receiving sobriety as the alcohol of last night wore off, leaving him only with the pains of a hangover. Groaning, he rose clumsily to his feet before stumbling of to the showers. Pandora's morning light filtered in from a far distant window, glinting wildly of the floor and walls of the cavernous expanse of metal and tile. Heading to a stall with every intent of taking a cold shower to rouse himself, Ethan paused as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The gaunt and haggard face that stared back at him was unfamiliar and, dare he say it even amongst the foreign creatures and plants of Pandora, even alien to his eyes. There was no trace of the proud soldier, the valiant Marine.

"God, I look like shit."

His voice rasped and rattled, and the tired soldier leaned forward, resting his hands on the side of the metal basin that passed for a sink. He shook his head, mournfully, averting his gaze from the pathetic figure looking back at him in the mirror.

"Well Dad, I guess Trudy was right. Hope I made you proud," Ethan half whispered, before giving listless laugh. "Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing. Got so caught up in revenge that I forgot to think ahead. What a mess. I tried you know, really I did." He force himself to look up and meet his reflection.

The man swallowed hard, taking it all in.

"You asked me one thing, one rule to follow. And I screwed that up too. Ella's gone native. She's picking those blue cretins over me, over the rest of humanity. I, I guess I did too, to a degree. I dragged her into this mess you know. God if I had just stayed back on Earth, none of this would have happened. If only I had-"

"If only what, Ethan? Mom and Dad hadn't died? I was five. I can barely remember them. But I remember you. You were there, you kept me safe, and I love you, your my brother. I'm not choosing them over you, I'm choosing a way for me to be with both my families."

Ethan whipped around to the source of the familiar voice, though it had echoed and distorted off the cold walls. Ella stood in the doorway, eyes, warm, yet sad at the same time, a small smile on her lips.

"Don't do this to yourself Ethan. Please, its, hurting everyone."

The soldier scrambled to regain his usual gruff machismo, but succeeded only in appearing as a haggard drunk.

"Wh-what did you mean, both my families?"

Ella gave a small smile once more.

"You, and the clan. They've, accepted me."

Ethan swallowed hard, taking a final hard look at his pathetic reflection before stepping away from the mirror, his beaten old combat boots rapping heavily on the tiled floor.

"So," he rasped, "that's it then? You're leaving me behind."

Ella's lip quivered, and she stepped forward, hesitantly at first, before embracing her brother, light tears threatening to drip down her face.

"Never," she whispered, burying her face into her brother's shoulder, holding him close. "I'm just taking a step out into this new world on my own, because I know, that when I fall, you'll be there to catch me."

She carefully released the embrace, before looking up into Ethan's eyes, dark bags hanging beneath both of them.

"Please Ethan, let's go back to the others."

She turned to leave, and grabbed his arm with the intention of guiding him along, only to find him as immovable as a boulder. She whirled around to see him staring at her, forlorn.

"Do you regret any of this Ella?"

His sister sighed.

"Of course. Of course there are things I regret, mistakes I made, things I want to change. But I can't. All I can do is keep on living my life. A life which you won't be exiting any time soon. Now come on."

He still didn't budge.

"I made a real ass out of myself, didn't I?"

Ella smiled.

"To be frank, yes you did. Just another reason why you won't be seeing the last of me. Who else is gonna' keep you from drinking yourself to death?"

Ethan gave a small smile.

"Guess you have a point there. Alright, time to face the music."

With that, the siblings exited the old barracks together, walking alongside each other. Ella wrinkled her nose a bit.

"You know, you should really take a shower. You reek."

**End Chapter. Short and a long delay, I know. I'm sorry. Really and truly I am. But stuff comes up, and I've been a bit busy setting up my new fic, Sea of Broken Dreams (if you like the BioShock games, check it out). Also, frankly, it's been a bit hard to come up with material for this one. I know how I'm going to end it, it's just getting there that's the problem. I can make no promises on when the next update will come, sorry, but I assure you I working on it. Until next time.**


	23. The Breath of Life

**Disclaimer: I only own this fic, not the movie Avatar :( Oh well. Well, here it is at long last, the conclusion of Redemption of the Sky. I had never intended for it to go on this long, and actually planned on ending it right after the battle. However, you guys asked for it, and you got more. No though, this little tale is coming to a close. Thanks to everyone who stuck with it since the start, and I hope you enjoy.**

"I'm sorry. I failed you, all of you. It was completely out of line, and in no way acceptable. I hope you have it in you to forgive me."

The small crowd before Ethan, the leaders of Hell's Gate humans, looked at him apprehensively. Finally, small murmurs erupted from the assembled group, acceptances of apology. They had gathered in the Link Center, sitting in swivel chairs and leaning against pods. Slowly, the group began to disperse, until all that remained were Trudy, Max, Norm, Ethan, and Ella. The pilot and the soldier traded uneasy glances.

"I'm sorry," they blurted together, words overlapping.

"I was out of control."

"I shouldn't have pushed you like that."

The remaining three in the room could hardly contain their laughter; two of the toughest people they knew, groveling for forgiveness from one another. The military man and woman seemed to realize the situation as well, both lapsing into awkward smiles. Trudy was quick to throw up her cocky little grin.

"It's all good Gregor," she said, fighting the blush mounting in her cheeks, "you were pretty sauced up anyways."

Ethan met her gaze, and she looked away, smiling slightly.

"I," he started ,before realizing the futility of it, "yah, yah I was."

Ella was relishing her brother's embarrassment, as well as Trudy's. She grinned and stepped forward.

"Well we all have long days ahead of us, so let's get moving, hmm?"

Everyone muttered agreement and made for the exit, splitting up in the hallways. The soldier and the pilot shared a final, blushing parting glance before separating and heading on their way.

* * *

The last traces of bright sunlight fell beneath the horizon, and the faint glow of the gas giant Pandora orbited, as well as those of its fellow moons, grew into greater prominence. Tiny lights of distant stars bloomed in the darkened sky, and wild calls and noises emerged from the jungle. It was nighttime on Pandora. Artificial light was foreign to the planet, and as such the lights of Hell's Gate stood out like a beacon in the darkness. Within its halls a celebration was underway. Fruits and meats of Pandora were heaped up on platters, steaming plates of game meat, sweet fruits dripping sticky juices. Seated at a table in the center was the science team, enjoying several rounds of complimentary drinks. The digestion process had been a success. Dr. Breen was seated, nursing a scotch, while Norm entertained his pretty young aide Cindy with wild tales of college shenanigans. The aged biologist raised his glass, and the whole table turned to listened.

"A toast," he wheezed, "to a successful project, and many more future endeavors. "

His toast was met, and the now smiling old man, infamous for his temper and grouchy demeanor, emptied his shot and placed down with a collection of similarly emptied bottles and glasses. He continued on.

"You know," he mused, his voice a mockery of the imperious researcher, "now that we have a steady supply of food, shelter, and sufficient genetic diversity, aided -hic- aided by modern science of course, there are all the conditions necessary required for a healthy population to grow."

The whole table was silent as what the old man had said, before laughter erupted.

"Now don't you laugh," he snapped, brows furrowing, "with you young people frolicking about with cases of booze, it's bound to happen sometime!"

Cindy turned to the crotchety Dr. Breen, barely restraining giggles.

"Uh, doctor, I think you've had a bit much to drink."

"Nonsense," he roared, "I know my limit girl. I, I swear to drunk I'm not God! I'm going to have a few more."

This solicited a new round of laughs, and the old man fumed, though free flowing alcohol quickly sweetened his mood. The party continued onwards.

Later in the night, as the celebration began to die down, and a stumbling Dr. Breen had to be carried off to his bed upon passing out, the two Gregors sat at a table, reliving old times. Ella finally stifled her laughter over mishaps with fireworks, and a sudden look of anxiety. Ethan took note.

"What's wrong?"

Ella smiled halfheartedly, before taking a deep breath and looking her brother in the eye.

"I'm going to go through with it, become a Na'vi."

Ethan was silent, his lips drawn into thin lines. He had been expecting this. Finally he sighed.

"Ella, it's your life. Live it how you want. Just remember there's people back here who still want to be a part of it."

She broke into a grin, tackling her brother in a hug.

"Thanks. Thanks for understanding."

Ethan nodded slowly, disentangling himself from her. They met eyes, though he suddenly eyed her suspiciously.

"There's a boy involved isn't there?"

The abruptness of the question caught her completely off guard.

"Uh well, in a sense."

Ethan raised a brow, before shaking his head with a sigh.

"Oh this'll make for one hell of a family reunion," he muttered under his breath, though Ella caught it and smiled.

"Hmm, and just who do you plan on bringing on your side?"

It took all of his self control not to take a quick glance over to Trudy's table. Ella just laughed.

"Oh come on bro, half the base knows already. The only ones you two are fooling is each other."

Ethan shook his head, smiling wistfully.

"In time sis, in time. So, when do you join the overgrown Smurfs?"

She slapped him playfully on the head before answering.

"Three days."

Ethan almost choked on his fruit.

"That soon?"

"Yah, they have to do it before the clan leaves the Tree of Souls and moves into a new Hometree. I'd ask you to come, but, well, they aren't too keen on having an audience for this sort of thing. After our bodies get dropped off its Na'vi only."

She smiled, and Ethan and her shared one final drink together before parting ways. He didn't have it in him to tell her what he planned on doing that day. She didn't need any kind of distraction.

* * *

Three days passed; three risings and settings of the stars and moons. Early in the morning, a pale mist hung in the air. A half a dozen humans, clad in only light clothes and breathe masks, boarded a lone gunship, one by one. Anxiety, nervousness, and even terror all played across their faces. With all aboard, Trudy fired the engines, and took off into the skies.

From a window of the base, Ethan watched as his sister faded off into the horizon, knowing that the next time he saw her, things would be very different. With a sigh, he quickly turned and made his way to the labs.

* * *

The gunship touched down on a rock face outside the Tree of Souls' bowl shaped rock valley. Jake, Neytiri, and the guides were waiting there. The Avatar driver dismounted, and Trudy saw them off with a wave before heading back to Hell's Gate. The whirring of the gunship's engines died away, and the drivers were left with the Na'vi. Ella swallowed hard as Tsu'tey leaned down looking closely at her

"So," he asked quietly, "this is what you really look like?"

"Yah" she answered, voice meek.

He smiled at her, barring pointed teeth unintentionally.

"Well, then we must put you in a body more befitting of the People. Come."

Before she could get out a word, he scooped her up into his arms and began the descent into the bowl valley.

* * *

Trudy had just returned from her trip, and was relaxing with one of the base's last remaining beers when Norm came scrambling into the mess hall.

"Trudy," he shouted, "Trudy come here! Quick!"

The pilot sighed heavily as she put her drink aside.

"'What," she replied crankily, "I had to wake up early and just got back Norm, what is it?"

"Ethan's testing the lung adapter! On himself!"

Her eyes went wide.

"What?! I thought you said that stuff wasn't ready?"

"It isn't not entirely, its at a state where we'd probably begin trials on animals, but all the creatures here already breathe the atmosphere. The doctors needed a human test subject-"

"And he volunteered," she finished, groaning.

"Christ, let's go, maybe I can talk him out of this."

The two flew down the halls to the labs, Norm struggling to keep pace with the pilot. She burst through the lab doors, leaving them swinging in her wake, only to find Dr. Breen holding a needle filled with some sort of orange goo against Ethan's exposed bicep.

"What the hell are you thinking Ethan?"

The soldier turned to face her, calm.

"That I'm a soldier without a fight, and that this is way to help everyone. It was a logical choice."

Trudy let out an exasperated breath.

"Doc," she said, turning to Breen, " how safe is this?"

"It has a projected success probability of 65% percent," he responded, detached, concentrating on applying a tourniquet to Ethan's arm and finding a vein.

"And what about the other 45?"

"It's not exactly a happy ending if that's what you're asking."

Trudy stomped a combat booted foot.

"Damn it Ethan! You can't just take risks like this without-"

She was silenced as the scarred soldier quickly leaned forward, pulling her close, and kissed her, lightly, then with mounting intensity. After what seemed an eternity it to the pilot, Ethan stopped, but still held her, looking down to meet her gaze.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," he said softly, with a smile, before continuing. "Trudy, this is who I am. I take risks and dares, do the stuff other guys won't, do what needs to be done. Now relax. everything is going to be alright."

He let her go, and looked up at him with half hearted anger, only to have it dissolve when her eyes met a smirk so much like her own. The grouchy doctor interrupted.

"Oh for God's sake can we keep moving, or do you two need to stop and get a room?"

* * *

Ella felt her skin crawl with goose bumps as she was laid down next to her Avatar body, covered only in leaves in vines. Tsu'tey looked down at her.

"It will be alright Ellagregor. Stay strong, and prepare to see Eywa."

Ella gave a meek smile, and looked around. Across the base of the Tree, a similar scene was playing out. Driver's were laid next to their Avatar's, and further out, the Na'vi of the Omaticaya sat in rings through the valley. She felt a slight wriggling, and looking down, she suppressed the urge to scream. Thin, translucent fibers, like the roots of the Tree, were spreading across her, growing up from the ground.

"Ok," she muttered, "this is freaky."

The chanting began, and lights began to play before her eyes.

* * *

Ethan, Norm, Trudy, and the doctor all stood outside, having exited the lab airlock, masks donned. Ethan gave deep breath, closed his eyes, and removed the mask.

* * *

A whirlwind of colors and lights traveled before Ella's closed eye's, a twisting, squirming tunnel that dominated her senses. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was gone, and she inhaled sharply, her body numb.

* * *

Ethan let out his breath slowly, then breathed deep of the Pandoran air. The first breath burned, and he coughed and sputtered, but it became easier, and the pain died away.

* * *

Miles away from each other, the two siblings opened their eyes with a start, and greeted the new day.

**End. Thanks to everyone who stuck through with this to the end. This was really hard to write, and while part of me is sad to see Redemption of the Sky come to a close, another is glad to finally finish what has by far been my most popular fic ever. You guys made it that way, and your requests are what kept it going this long. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed. Your input was greatly appreciated. Perhaps I'll do a sequel one day, but for now, this is jschneids, signing off. **


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